“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” - Great expectations.

Five years ago, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse surprised us in theaters, then surprised us again by winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Like all great films, it did something new, namely an animation style that looked like it leapt from the pages of a comic book. It also featured characters more fleshed out and nuanced than most films, connecting with us at levels many films don’t even know exist. When the sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, was finally announced, we were rightly concerned that it wouldn’t live up to its predecessor. I’m happy to say I’m surprised again.

Across the Spider-Verse picks up more than a year after Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and his spider-friends stopped Kingpin from destroying all the universes. In a very good opening twist, we’re greeted not by Miles, but by Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) protecting her city as Spider-Woman. She is struggling to deal with her father, who is unwittingly hunting her because he thinks Spider-Woman killed Peter Parker. During a great action sequence featuring this film’s new approach to its animation (I’ll explain in a minute), we meet new spider-people from alternate universes Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae). After defeating an alternate-universe Vulture, Gwen reveals her secret to her father, then leaves her universe with a reluctant Miguel to join the Spider-Society.

The Spider-Society is much like TVA from Loki. It exists in Miguel’s universe and is dedicated to maintaining the stability of the Spider-Verse (aka multi-verse, as some cameos will confirm) by capturing any beings who cross universes and returning them to their own universe. This society is also teeming with spider-people from countless universes who can come and go via bracelets that can spawn portals between universes. There are old friends from Into the Universe, most notably the Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man voiced by Jake Johnson, new friends Hobie/Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) and Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), and a plethora of easter egg spideys (ex. Scarlet Spider) and gag spideys (ex. Spider-Cat).

After Gwen steps through the portal, we are whisked to Miles’ universe, where he is also struggling to adapt to his new life as a superhero. Like Gwen, he misses his spider-friends. He especially misses Gwen. Also like Gwen, he has an action scene fighting a villain. This villain calls himself the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), is covered with portals (hence the name spot) that he cannot control, and holds a grudge against Miles for accidentally turning him into the Spot while destroying the Kingpin’s supercollider in the previous film. When the Spot inadvertently transports himself into a void, he learns that he can use his portals to traverse universes and make himself stronger. This brings him to the attention of the Spider-Society, who initially sends Gwen to capture him.

The screenplay - written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie), with an assist from David Callaham - takes us on a delightfully entertaining journey through several universes but becomes very intriguing when Miguel explains canon events to Miles. In short, a canon event is the death of a loved one that makes Spider-Man/Woman/Pig/Cat the hero that he/she/they/it is. You’re picturing Tobey Maguire crying over the death of his Uncle Ben now, aren’t you? You got it - that’s a canon event. The theme of changing the past or preventing a future is a common one and never stops being interesting because the possible consequences are endless. As the film rolls towards its climax, we witness the consequences of what happens when a canon event is disrupted. And it’s a doozy.

Like Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse devotes ample care to character development and character relationships. The parents of Gwen and Miles aren’t just background noise, they are three-dimensional characters who further our understanding of their kids. Miguel is given a full treatment to show us he isn’t just the leader of the Spider-Society, but a damaged individual dealing with immense trauma. And while the film continues to build Miles’ personality and growth, Gwen is developed to the point where she is every bit the protagonist Miles is. All of these characters are so well-written that we cheer and fear for all of them.

Perhaps the best component of the movie is the animation. In addition to the familiar style from Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse expands on each universe’s unique animation style by adding as many new animation styles as it does new universes. It’s extremely effective at both jarring and wowing the audience by creating an atmosphere that is constantly at odds – and in sync – with itself. The film comes across like a stack of Spidey comics thrown into the air and settling like a finely woven web.

When the film ended, I felt just like I did after watching the first movie - very impressed, very satisfied, and very surprised. I was surprised that it was every bit as good as the first film and even more surprised by the way it ended. As we wait for the trilogy concluding Beyond the Spider-Verse next year, my expectations are that we will be surprised in ways we didn’t even know existed.

Rating: Worth every penny no matter which universe it comes from.

“Nope” - Yep.

The meteoric rise of Jordan Peele in the film world brings to mind the same rise that M. Night Shyamalan experienced. While Shyamlan’s directorial debut (Wide Awake) was an absolute bomb, his next three films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs) were widely acclaimed and box office successes. Plus, The Sixth Sense garnered a couple of Oscar nominations for Shyamalan. Similarly, Peele’s first two films (Get Out and Us) were widely acclaimed, box office successes, and Get Out was nominated for some Oscars. Continuing in Shyamalan’s footsteps, Peele’s third movie, Nope, dives into aliens and UFOs.

In case you are getting concerned about this parallel, you can probably relax. There are plenty of differences between him and Shyamalan to indicate Peele won’t fall off a cliff into a pile of his own shitty movies. For starters, Peele’s films are far better at weaving social issues into the broader narrative of the films. In fact, it’s tough to argue that Shyamalan’s films include social issues at all, let alone deep commentary on them. They also come from very different film backgrounds. Shyamalan has always been a director/producer/writer. I’d include actor, but his various cameos show he has no business being on the lens side of the camera. Conversely, Peele came up doing years of sketch comedy (Mad TV, Key & Peele) before breaking out as a director/writer/producer with Get Out. On that note, while Shyamalan did not win any awards for The Sixth Sense, Peele won Best Original Screenplay for Get Out.

Like with Us, I’m going to talk about some stuff in Nope without spoiling anything major for you. The point here is to get you even more excited and intrigued to see Nope than you already should be. And, you already should be. The initial preview was excellent, though you definitely want to stay away from the other previews that have been released. I accidentally saw one before the latest Jurassic World movie and I was afraid that much of Nope had been spoiled for me (it turned out okay). My point is...aliens.

Otis “OJ” Haywood Jr. (Daniel Kaluuya) is struggling to keep his family’s Hollywood horse wrangling business afloat (they train horses to work in TV and film). His father, Otis Sr. (Keith David), was very well-regarded in the industry, but was killed six months earlier by debris falling from the sky. After a commercial shoot goes bad, OJ is forced to admit to his sister, Emerald (Keke Palmer), that he has been selling horses to a local carnival owner, Jupe (Steven Yeun), to keep paying the bills. One day, OJ sees something strange causing his horses to go wild, eventually telling Emerald that he saw a UFO. Always looking to make a quick buck, Emerald hatches a plan to take a picture of the UFO, believing this is their chance to get rich. While OJ is on board with the plan, he is far more down-to-Earth in his reactions. Eventually, they get some help from Angel (Brandon Perea), a local Fry’s Electronics technician / alien conspiracy theorist, and Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), a famous cinematographer. No, seriously, those are the characters’ names.

Rather than a deep commentary on a serious social issue, Peele takes aim at the UFO debate by playing with many of the tropes associated with UFOs and providing answers to the questions posed by those tropes. Animal mutilations, abductions, sucking people up with a tractor beam, electrical interference, the shape and movement of UFOs, people trying to profit off UFOs, and even the idea that people never see UFOs directly - all are given explanations in the film. Peele even addresses the fact that UFOs are now referred to as UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) and why the term was changed. It’s a brilliant take on the aliens-are-among-us topic that is one part horror, one part curious, one part playful, and one part satire. It’s so well-portrayed that even people who truly believe aliens are here could see the movie as a slap in the face or a legitimate explanation confirming their belief.

If there is one flaw with Nope, it’s a subplot involving Jupe’s childhood that doesn’t seem to tie into the greater plot. Given Peele’s attention to detail, another viewing of the film might reveal the connection, but I just couldn’t figure out how a chimpanzee killing everyone on the set of a TV show (except Jupe) tied into the rest of the film. It didn’t even seem to do much to develop Jupe’s character. He just seemed to be another guy Hollywood spit out. Good thing this movie is good enough for me to want to watch again to find that connection.

And I really must stress how good Nope is. I can list off all the components as being good to great (and I will say the acting was great), but it’s better to just tell you that you won’t blink during the film. You’ll be watching the sky along with OJ, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever is there. You won’t want to miss the little details of foreshadowing Peele loves to incorporate throughout his films. You’ll be breathing as lightly as possible, trying to hear something when all falls silent at OJ’s ranch. You’ll be unable to pull your eyes away from something your brain never considered as a possible explanation for UFOs. And you will greatly appreciate every time a character says “nope” when confronted with a standard horror movie decision and choosing not to be “that guy.”

Besides Shyamalan, there is another director that Peele seems to be paralleling. Another director who burst onto the Hollywood scene almost immediately upon his debut, whose first three films were all extremely well-received, one of which won some Oscars and the third of which is about aliens visiting Earth. Another director who, had you not known Peele directed Nope, you might have guessed directed Nope and who several people cited immediately when asked what they thought of Nope. If I’m right about Peele’s trajectory, we can look forward to the next Spielberg rather than the next Shyamalan.

Rating: Yep - worth your entire family’s ticket cost.