Here’s the coolest animated movie of the year

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” exploded into 2018’s world of animated blockbusters, about making cheeky animals talk and the always sleep-inducing brand of superheroes saving the world. It came out of a hat without anyone expecting it, turned the world of animated films upside down and broke all records. Music records too, as the song “Sunflower” by Swae Lee and Post Malone, which is part of the soundtrack, is still the most awarded song in the US.

What made this film unique was its visual design, which traded Pixar-esque photorealism for the rules of comics and illustrations, creating an identity that had never been seen before. A risk that paid off, because the film won an Oscar in 2019. The visual direction of Sony Animation Studios revolutionized the industry, prompting other creative studios to break from the standards that had been in place for some 20 years.

The movie has been a real inspiration to others, whether it’s Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish or the next adventures of the Ninja Turtles, which hits theaters this summer. The moving image cinema is now looking for uniqueness.

The sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” comes with great power and great responsibility: he must repeat the feat of the first part and try to surpass it without succumbing to the weight of his ambitions.

Miles Morales is a comic book character created by Marvel in 2011 to represent the diversity of our time. In the House of Ideas, there is a superhero for every minority (Marvel, in Wokism since 1939). So, as you might have guessed, we follow this Afro-Hispanic boy from Brooklyn who was bitten by a rather peculiar spider. He discovers his superpowers and becomes Spider-Man.

At least one of the Spider-Men, because as we’ve known for a number of years in the Marvel Universe, there are parallel universes with countless versions of the same character: the Multiverse.

So all versions of Spider-Man, whether it’s the Japanese version from the ’60s, the version popularized by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire in the title role, the two-part version starring Andrew Garfield, or even the MCU version starring Tom Holland, are now canonical, as they each belong to their own “Spider-Verse”.

The concept of the multiverse, present in comics for decades, is now being brought to the big screen in all its variations, from Spider-Man: No Way Home to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The multiverse allows writers to free themselves from all creative constraints, as anything is possible. However, the challenge remains the same: the boundaries of these universes must be preserved, because as with time travel, the same applies here: if the boundary conditions are changed, catastrophic consequences threaten.

“Spider-Man: A New Universe”, whose original title “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was defaced and fell victim to German marketing, was the first part of a trilogy whose middle episode, “Across The Spider-Verse” “, is currently in theaters. The conclusion is “Beyond the Spider-Verse” and will be announced for March 28.

The film opens with the pastel colored world inhabited by Spider-Man’s female counterpart, Gwen Stacy. She struggles to hide her activities as a ballerina avenger from her father, a police commander with unyielding moral standards. Meanwhile, in the world we know, young Miles Morales struggles to balance his superhero life, his family, and his education. The day-to-day life of a superhero that quickly goes haywire when a new enemy emerges: The Spot.

A new nemesis determined to exact revenge on Spider-Man and whose ability to travel through dimensions could threaten the balance of the entire multiverse. And so the viewer embarks on a journey through different dimensions, each as crazy as the next. From there, the film quickly flies through a kaleidoscope of worlds and characters, following the principle intended in the first part.

Each universe and variant of Spider-Man has its own graphic style. It’s such a sight to behold that there are a plethora of visual displays, one bolder than the next. It includes everything from an Indian version of Manhattan that takes on the graphic style of old Bollywood posters, to a “punky” Spider-Man whose character is composed entirely of Sex Pistols-style newspaper collages.

Everything about this film is a feast for the senses, which at times leads to overstimulation that borders on a visual orgy. There’s no denying the technical feat, though, as despite the plethora of effects at every turn, the plot remains incredibly readable and structured. The film offers viewers totally psychedelic moments of bravery more befitting an artistic feat than general public entertainment.

Yet the film sometimes loses itself in this excess and in its narrative challenges. All that in 2 hours and 20 minutes can sometimes be exhausting without ever really getting boring. To its credit, however, unlike Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse takes full advantage of the multiverse to offer a grand spectacle without ever resorting to fan rest service .

The film is a celebration of plenty for a trilogy that explores the concept of the multiverse in much the same way the Back to the Future trilogy did with time travel. And while the film is a party at every turn, it also takes time to establish the characters and provide intermissions that address the themes of youthful emancipation and sacrifice.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is not only a great imaginative animated film and a masterpiece of pop art, but also an excellent sequel and arguably one of the best superhero movies I’ve seen in a long time. At a time when heroes in tights have become increasingly boring, the new Spider-Man tastes like sour candy with an ecstasy-like effect. At least that’s how we imagine it.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters in German-speaking Switzerland on June 1.