Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) in a scene from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation)
The textbooks have been put away, the tassels have been turned, and the school uniforms have been hung back in the closet. Summer doesn't officially arrive until June 21, but summer movies have already dropped anchor at theaters across the country. Their mission: to sweet-talk you into giving them your leisure time, opening your wallets and donating a few of your brain cells.
This weekend brings a clash of the titans at the box office. This loud, colorful and noisy battle royale pits the current box office champ against a brawny tentpole sequel that I'm not sure anyone asked for. It doesn't take a college degree to figure out who wins this multiplex showdown, at least from an artistic point of view. Are you ready to take the plunge? Let's go.
Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) in a scene from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation)
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”: High-flying do-gooders zip, slide and careen across the screen in all kinds of snazzy angles, giving your corneas a robust workout in Sony Pictures Animation's wondrous, fully felt sequel to 2018's “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” While bigger doesn't always mean better, the larger canvas and more elaborate logistics here, in terms of narrative scope and thematic heft, make for a dazzling time at the movies for many (most?) age groups. It's a kinetic thrill ride that gives you all the feels.
It's also quite striking to behold. The further adventures of Miles Morales, biracial high-schooler, budding quantum physicist and your friendly neighborhood webbed crusader, unfold with the eye-popping fluidity of comic book panels come to life. These aren't just storyboards brought to fruition, they're moving pop art paintings that yank you from the comfort of your seat and toss you in the middle of the action.
Jessica Drew (voiced by Issa Rae) and Miguel O'Hara (voiced by Oscar Isaac) in a scene from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation)
Edgar Wright in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and Ang Lee in “The Hulk” have probably come closest to recreating the sensation of reading a comic book in a live-action film, but the “Spider-Verse” movies make it clear that their playful and energetic animation style best serves this Marvel superhero as a movie subject. It goes without saying that Sam Raimi also understood the assignment in his Tobey Maguire/Kirsten Dunst-fronted trilogy, even in “Spider-Man 3.” (I have a soft spot for the much-derided sequel. What of it?)
“Across the Spider-Verse” finds Miles (the voice of Shameik Moore) and his parents, good cop Jeff (Brian Tyree Henry) and Spanglish-speaking nurse Rio (Luna Lauren Velez), undergoing some growing pains. Mom and Dad sense their son is keeping something from them, whereas the lonely, Brooklyn-based teen feels the weight of what he feels is the need to keep his superhero identity a secret. Meanwhile, here I am, wondering why these smart, loving parents haven't figured it out. It's a suspension of disbelief that strains credibility, but directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson reward your investment handsomely.
Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) in a scene from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation)
For instance, the filmmakers give this franchise's Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld as the voice of Stacy is terrific), Miles' friend, fellow Spider-Person and crush from another universe a bigger role and a more layered arc this time around. After more than a year apart, the two reconnect in both gratifying and complicated ways. The complications mostly involve a team of Spider-People tasked with resolving disruptions in the multiverse.
That means meeting a plethora of other Spideys, such as motorcycle-riding Jessica Drew (Issa Rae) and, in the film's juiciest role, Miguel O'Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099, played with just the right mix of tough love and guarded empathy by Oscar Isaac. A sequence involving hundreds of Spider-People together in one place gives off “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” vibes in the best possible way.
Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), The Spot (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) and Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) in a scene from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation)
The space-time fabric comes under threat from a bumbling yet nightmarish figure called The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), whose white faceless body produces round holes that can transport him, and others unfortunate enough to be in his path, to random spaces several feet away. (Think of Bugs Bunny's rabbit hole, with slapstick-prone teleporting abilities.) What begins as a mild nuisance for Miles, an annoying mess to clean up, continues to escalate until the situation metastasizes in arresting and exhilarating ways.
But also in exhausting ways. “Across the Spider-Verse” packs a lot into 140 lean, eventful minutes. You won't be bored, but the possibility of being overwhelmed by the information surplus is there for viewers not willing to dive in headfirst. But even if this isn't quite the homerun the more reined-in “Into the Spider-Verse” was, the creativity overload on display is bound to yield even more rewards on repeat viewings.
Optimus Primal (voiced by Ron Perlman), Cheetor (voiced by Tongayi Chirisa), Wheeljack (voiced by Cristo Fernández) and Arcee (voiced by Liza Koshy) in a scene from "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Skydance Films)
It could have settled for empty fan service or coasted on the virtues of the first film, but “Across the Spider-Verse” is that rare sequel that expands upon and deepens the universe(s) introduced in its predecessor. Like many a middle chapter in a trilogy, it ends with an intriguing ellipsis that gives you just enough to look forward to its resolution, which will be revealed in next year's “Beyond the Spider-Verse.” Don't listen to the crybabies demanding closure; this thoroughly satisfying cliffhanger is one of the film's strongest assets. It puts the brakes on, but only for the time being, on a pop-culture treat that lives up to the name of the comic book publisher that inspired it. This is great postmodern fun. So what are you waiting for?
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”: Michael Bay's “Transformers” films were a scourge on moviedom, nonsensical demolition derbies that rarely failed to make my temples throb and my ears ache. They also gave the “Bad Boys” auteur a playground that he used to indulge in his very worst impulses. The passing of the baton to other filmmakers after the 2017 clunker “The Last Knight” came as good news for those of us exhausted with this aging franchise, based on the Hasbro mecha toys and '80s TV cartoons. Alas, this second post-Bay entry, following the reasonably watchable but still somewhat overpraised “Bumblebee,” is still a loser with a capital “L.”
Dominique Fishback as Elena Wallace and Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz in a scene from "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Skydance Films)
It didn't necessarily come across that way on paper. “Beasts” is set in 1994, features several of the titular shapeshifting extraterrestrial robots taking the form of wild animals and boasts a human cast headed by Anthony Ramos (“In the Heights”) and Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). But director Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II”) is all too willing to deliver a nondescript product that fits the mindless summer spectacle mold all too neatly. His “Transformers” entry is not obnoxious like Bay's hyperactive behemoths, but it lacks a personal stamp.
Instead, Caple rams mid-1990s trappings down viewers' throats. The fashions, the hip-hop needle drops and the news headlines are emblematic of the decade in the most obvious ways. Not far removed from “Spider-Verse's” Morales household, “Beasts” features a Brooklyn family struggling to make ends meet. Noah Diaz (Ramos), an ex-military electronics whiz, wants to help his mother Breanna (Luna Lauren Velez again, albeit underused here) and his baby brother Kris (Dean Scott Vazquez), who is dealing with sickle cell anemia. A job interview scene involving Noah aims to illustrate the overt racism of the time, a welcome reversal from the second “Transformers,” “Revenge of the Fallen,” with its jive-talking comic-relief robots. (Just thinking of them makes me cringe.) But Caple lacks the finesse to make the charged encounter resonate.
Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson) in a scene from "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Skydance Films)
Meanwhile, museum intern Elena Wallace (Fishback) comes across an ancient artifact at work that her boss says is Middle Eastern. The statue, and what it stores, will bring Elena and Noah together in a stale meet-cute straight out of a studio rom-com. Only here, it's a prelude to a globetrotting yarn that plants the humans in the middle of a battle between different kinds of Transformers. These include the familiar Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen, who has voiced the character for decades), the animalistic Maximals, which include metallic gorilla Optimus Primal (voiced by Ron Perlman), and the evil Terrorcons, led by the ostensibly cunning Scourge (Peter Dinklage, picking up a paycheck), who do the bidding of the Sauron-like world destroyer Unicron (Colman Domingo).
Bay's “Transformers” movies, all five of them, invited viewers not to take its global threats too seriously. “Beasts” goes in the opposite direction, conveying with the utmost sternness that the fate of Earth is at stake. That leaves the movie open to ridicule at every turn, starting with Unicron's planet-obliterating mechanism, which mostly stands out because it looks like a humongous, fire-breathing sphincter.
Optimus Primal (voiced by Ron Perlman) and Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) in a scene from "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Skydance Films)
And despite the more progressive approach Caple brings to the franchise, he's not above introducing Wheeljack (Cristo Fernández), a Transformer with a thick Latin American accent. The fact that the movie acknowledges the oddity of a hunk of metal with such a distinct vocal delivery doesn't make the character any less of a stereotype.
Most disappointing of all is how generic and perfunctory “Beasts'” action sequences are. Caple simply lacks the cocky bravado and 'roided-up visual panache that Bay brought to the table. (It pains me to say good things about Bay, who is credited here as a producer, but here we are.) In Caple's defense, he gives more of a damn about the human characters than Bay ever did. That's not nothing, but the result is still a series of unmemorable rumbles, a numbing clanging of alloys that skimps on that neat sound the robots make when changing from one form to another. More empathetic characters and a more pronounced social conscience are unable to derail this dispiriting sequel from its ultimate destination: CGI-heavy military propaganda that is high in decibels and low in staying power.
Unicron (voiced by Colman Domingo) and Scourge (voiced by Peter Dinklage) in a scene from "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Skydance Films)
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” are now showing in wide release. IMAX engagements for “Transformers” are showing at Regal South Beach, AMC Aventura, AMC Sunset Place, CMX Dolphin and the AutoNation IMAX in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
