Sick of myself, Renfield, Spider-Man across the Spider-Verse… Movies to see or avoid this week

Animation by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, 2h20

After the first installment released in 2018, we doubted that it would be possible to reproduce the feat of an animated Spider-Man who remained in weightlessness. However, we come out of this second animated film with the desire to jump for joy. Caught in the web of this new film from the first images, we take off for a sensory trip of 2h20. The shock is mainly visual. The aesthetics of the images and the animation are as innovative as ever. Paying homage to Warhol, Lichtenstein, Munch, Banksy or Jeff Koons, all mixed with the latest trends in street art, even abstract art, this second film plays with offset screens, primary colors and certain blur effects which give a 3D impression. Without forgetting the phylacteries which appear in the film as in the television series Batman of the 1960s. The tempo is furious, but knows how to slow down to offer pretty moments of poetry or emotion. The dialogues are full of humor. We find this touch of impertinence mixed with a rather surprising dose of punk! Exhilarating and full of energy, there is no doubt that this Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse marks a new turning point in the world of animation. O.D.

From the age of 8.

Dramatic comedy by Kristoffer Borgli, 1h37

How to become famous when nothing distinguishes you from the average person? Reality TV isn't what it used to be. Fortunately, an article teaches him the dangers of an anxiolytic banned in his country, and available in Russia. Lidexol causes a terrible skin disease. The lady orders a load, swallows the pills like M's

Drama de Hettie MacDonald, 1h48

Adapted from Rachel Joyce's best-selling novel, Hettie MacDonald's film gets off to a flying start. Jim Broadbent is masterful as a mute old husband, eaten away by a pathological discretion and secrets buried deep inside him. The spectator follows in the footsteps of this funny and improbable pilgrim with interest and tons of questions in his bag. Harold's journey is like a last stand, in the form of a quest for redemption. Random encounters, a surprising chain of friendship and solidarity is woven around him. We remain charmed by this assumed and sincere British melody. Despite some staging blunders, Harold Fry's inner journey touches the heart, because it is moving and well paced. O.D.

Drama by Robin Campillo, 1h57

After the success of 120 beats per minute , Robin Campillo fails to convince with his new film, an evocation of his childhood in Madagascar. The absence of L'Île rouge from the Cannes selection was not a very good sign. Nothing catches the eye in this less sensory than floating evocation, devoid of any real stake – Madagascar is not the tragedy of Algeria. Campillo does not completely assume the point of view of the child he was, the offspring of a French couple nostalgic for their colonies, out of breath, depressed. Like a remorse, in the last movement of the film, he gives the floor to the Malagasys, hitherto extras. A militant leaflet that suggests that Madagascar will become a haven of peace and prosperity after the departure of the French. Campillo replaces one lie with another. Was this paradise lost actually a stolen paradise? Heaven on earth does not exist. E.S.

Horror comedy by Chris McKay, 1h33

After the great vintages of the Hammer studio, the bloody baroque beverages of the 1970s and the later nectars mixed by Coppola, here is a Coca Zero vampire film. Wandering the Americas of 2023, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), Dracula's lackey, infiltrates a support group and admits to finding himself under the influence of a tyrannical, narcissistic and needy boss. The vampire (Nicolas Cage, double-chin monster) does not, however, intend to see his servile companion leave him for books of personal development. Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War) delivers an inclusive horror-comedy on the theme of toxic relationships. It had to be invented. The joke is funny. It drags on and then spoils. A brief pastiche of the Tod Browning classic with Bela Lugosi is served as the opening. The sequel navigates in a gore soup as gothic as a ghost train. A drug cartel burst into this fair, a pretext for the presence of Awkwafina and Shohreh Aghdashloo on the bill. A mayonnaise of antics more cagian than vampiric. S.C.