Why Are Films Split Into Parts? Does ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Fail As Part One?

Parts. In films and books, different media pieces are separated into parts, these can range from subtle separations in story beats, to concretely placed chapters in novels. They are used to wrap up a thought and then to chase a new one, it makes sense when you consider how films have begun to enter the 3-hour mark and books can be well over 900 pages long, it makes a story coherent and easy to follow, but can there be other reasons? With a focus on films, there are a myriad of reasons why (typically) the last instalment of a film series is split into two parts, such as marketing and budgets. So when I readied myself for the second half of the Spider-verse, you know when Gwen Avenger assembles and Miguel does the sexy intimidating stance thing (oof), and then it slammed me with the To Be Continued! I was like what! Why!?

Now I could blame myself and say I didn’t watch any trailers so I didn’t know what I was going into, but in my lil ol’ defence marketing didn’t emphasise this point. Long gone are movie posters with Deathly Hallows Part 1 or Mocking-Jay Part 2, this detail is left out now. Spider-Verse and Dune are prime examples. Why? The simple answer, it’s bad for marketing. If you walked into a store and picked up half a chocolate bar, and the other half you would have to have next year, you’d be like hell no (sorry, terrible analogy), but it’s all the same. Viewers, especially those who aren’t die-hard fans, are going to be deterred by the fact that you aren’t consuming a complete product. For Spider-verse especially, once you have watched it you are left feeling flat with a story that is meant to continue, you have to wait for the continuation in a year’s time. This empty disappointment, let’s dive into that.

Across the Spider-verse tears through its runtime of 2 hours in a blistering dizzying speed, my eyes were glued to the screen with how seamlessly the plot points were weaved together. Of course, this plays well in the film’s favour, but it only then emphasises the blistering speed it has to slam the breaks on to end its first part. The supposed final act of the film is seen as the slow closing in on Miles, and the reveal that he is in the wrong universe, these are all newly established plot points that could be argued for a great cliff-hanger, but it lacks an enveloping closure for the film as a part. The pacing of this act doesn’t allow you to settle down with your thoughts, you’re waiting for more that won’t come, hence why I believe this decision to separate the films into parts wasn’t planned, not a creative decision but a forced scramble at the end because they had so much to tell. This is why I can’t be angry at Spider-Verse, the creators decide to slow their pacing down to a melodic rhythm that allows us to be with the characters they create, which is wild that they pulled this off cuz there are A LOT of characters in this film.

I am only so hard on this film because of the insufferable trend of turning films into two parts, and most of them cannot deflect this with riveting plot points and characters like Spider-verse, a lot are lazy in stretching out the material in order to make money. A prime example is Dune, a film I really didn’t enjoy because of the sluggish and painful pacing. Dune’s runtime stands at 2 hours and 35 minutes, whilst Spider-verse sits at 2 hours and 16, a little difference of 19 minutes yet Dune stunned me with how long it went on for. The world of Dune is understandably a vast and intricate landscape that relies on heavy political action to create wars and character development as the main character Is swept up in it from a young age, so there’s a lot to convey, but there are arguably ways that world-building can be woven into the already slow plot. Instead, It spends too much time on its prologue. I firmly believe that this decision was not for the benefit of giving us time with its characters, but to prolong the material so they could squeeze more out of it. This is unlike Spider-verse which showcases the world the characters live in through beautifully different art styles and tonal music, a subtle perfect way to build the world behind the plot. With terrible pacing, I really didn’t know how Dune was going to finish its first part, with so much book material left uncovered, but predictably the ending was ridiculously lacklustre, Zendaya’s character is eluded to throughout the film, yet she finally shows up in the last 10 minutes and not given any thoughts for the watcher to dig into after it was over. The conflict between Paul and the Freman felt minor compared to the big betrayal of the House of Atreides and the massacre of the army, this choice to end the part there left me frustrated at having wasted my time with a poorly executed introduction to Hebert’s world. Don’t even get me started with how long we have to wait for the next film due to its extortionate cost to make, at least Spider-verse provides a small wait time in comparison to Dune’s nearly 2 years of waiting.

Overall, separating films into parts can seem to be a good or bad thing, the intentions of the creators can allow for forgiveness like in Spider-verse clumsily wrapping up its first part but by pairing it with stellar story-telling, you can see the meticulous passion put into every detail in this film and the discourse the film swarms the watcher in will definitely keep me occupied until the next release. But, separating a story can also be arguably detrimental to a viewer’s pleasure, waiting years for a story that only now seems to be getting ready to begin is a lazy way of baiting the viewer to come back and watch the next part. I can’t forgive Dune for its awful pacing and lack of substance (pretty shots and cg don’t cut it) which is why I am not looking forward to the next part. The difference in these films made me appreciate one a lot more but also reassured my frustration with why stories cannot be condensed or simply just given more thought into how to make the viewer want more, but also feel satisfied in a £12 IMAX ticket and a 2-hour runtime.