Reviews- Across The Spider-Verse, Shadow and Bone season one

 

Spider- Man – Across the Spider -Verse (film 2023) Five years after the acclaimed Into the Spiderverse, Miles Morales is back for another burst of imaginative storytelling and visual pizzaz. Fictionally a year has passed and Miles has become accustomed to his Spider-Man gig as well as hiding his true identity from his parents. Yet the nature of his transformation seems to have set off a chain of events that will come back to ensnare him in an even more dangerous scenario than last time. And that’s all I can tell you about the plot because to appreciate the movie you need to experience a string of developments as they happen. Just reading about them in a review will spoil it completely. 

If you enjoyed the first one you’ll love this because while it may follow superhero sequel rules and go bigger it never loses its soul, its wit and humour which were crucial to its success last time. The twisting storyline is told imaginatively and clearly while the multiverse concept makes more sense here than it has so far in Marvel’s films. Comic nuts will appreciate plenty of familiar references while everyone will gasp at how vibrant the animation is.

The palette is busy, moving and often crashes from one style into another. Like the first film there are sequences paced and shown as if lifted directly form the comic pages yet this film is more darning with its style mixes. One scene in particular takes place against an impressionistic wash that only vaguely resembles the location yet it works really well. This willingness to mix and match styles, eras and iconography is the film;s strongest suit. Literally you will see nothing like it.

Despite such an eye-catching miasma the character beats shine through reminding us this is, at heart, a story of growing up, of families and of taking responsibility. Its not an exaggeration to say this could be the best animated film ever made; its definitely the best I’ve seen.

Shadow and Bone Season One (tv 2021)

Unlike many streaming series which develop a following, Shadow and Bone actually got a second season which was enough to persuade me to check out the first originally released back in 2021. What I found are a lot of familiar elements put together in a way that may never seem wholly original yet is interesting enough to make you follow the story. Its based on a series of books by Leigh Bardugo though takes from more than the first novel to expand the characters. The setting is place apparently called the Grishaverse which resembles a steampunk medieval England with a nomenclature born of Russian via Game of Thrones. We find several countries with different agendas and a great big barrier of noisy fog called the Shadow Fold. Travel through this strange phenomenon is risky as there are flying creatures who pick off people for supper almost before you can see them. Where the Fold came from and whether a mythical Saint can disperse it form the backbone of the eight episodes.

Our heroine is Alina Starkov who, along with childhood pal Malyen Oretsev, managed to escape testing to check whether she was a Grisha and therefore entitled to a plush if indentured life in the `little Palace`.  The name is ironic as the place is a huge warren of corridors and secret tunnels. Yet during a perilous trip through the Fold in her job as a cartographer for the army she seems to create a bright light from within her, meaning she could be that fabled saviour. Whisked off to the palace she is wooed by hissable villain General Kirigan (“call me Alexander”) whose motives are not what they seem to her even if they are obvious to the viewer. That she trusts a man who also goes by the name of the Darkling is the first sign of her naivete. Much of the running time is devoted both to her travails and eventual escape, Mal’s quest to find her and the intersecting plans of a gang of tricksters and con artists called the Crows without whom the series would matters would be a bit over earnest.

Like a lot of modern series it opens strongly but slowly, then meanders before rallying for a terrific finale benefitting from the closer proximity of all its central characters. In the middle though there is some water treading interspersed with the occasional exciting skirmish. When we’ve been told how powerful people are there are times when their search and pursuit of the escapees seems very slow while these powers are used or not depending on expediencies of the plot.

From a visual side the show is packed with imagery that helps set it apart from similar fare notably the skiffs that traverse the Fold which are basically ships on land powered by wind generated by a Eatheralki,one of three types who have elemental powers.  There's a mystical stag with enormous horns while the Fold itself is a chaotic miasma of churning clouds inside which there is a real atmosphere of dread and danger. The rest of the production benefits from well chosen locations and proper weather courtesy of Hungary.

The cast is headed up by Jesse Mei Li who brings both a feistiness and a vulnerability. From the days when we had no female protagonists in this type of story to now when they are prevalent it’s becoming more difficult to distinguish them but she manages to give a uniqueness to her portrayal. As Kirigan Ben Barnes makes the most of some the sort of villain we’ve seen many times while the crows (Freddy Carter, Amita Suman and Kit Young) each bring different facets to the table. Apparently, they shouldn’t really be in the story at this stage and there could be plans for a spin off featuring all six characters that are in the books. That I definitely would watch. For now I’d say the first season of Shadow and Bone shows potential and I’m intrigued enough to seek out the second which was released a few months back.