Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) 

Watching the Movie:

Did you enjoy Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and want some more of the same? You'll probably be disappointed. Did you enjoy Spider-Man:Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and want A LOT more of the same and a whole bunch of new stuff too? Then you are one of the people who claims that this movie is beyond a masterpiece when it's not even better than it's predecessor; not even close.

Screening the Film:

Spider-Man imagery and lore; in fact, the lore of Spider-Man's identity is the major theme of the movie. Who an individual is vs who they are "supposed" to be. Superhero vs supervillain dynamics and identity. Multi-verse imagery; that all things are not only possible, but are in-fact definitely happening somewhere beyond our meager comprehension. Parental roles; with specific focus on fatherhood. Child development. Honesty, integrity, being true to ones self, secrets and their role in interpersonal relationships; particularly with family members. Duty and responsibility vs desire.

Best Dialogue:

Gwen Stacy: You're a good cop, Dad. You know you put on that badge because you know if you don't, someone who shouldn't will. But you have to understand, this mask... is my badge, and I'm trying to be good too. I was trying so hard to wear this thing the way you would want, and I didn't... I didn't. I can do all these things but I can't help the people I loved the most, and they can only know half of who I am, so I'm-I'm completely on my own. And now I don't-I don't even know what the right thing is anymore, I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I know... I can't lose one more friend.
 
George Stacy: Gwen, I always taught you to do it by the book.
 
Gwen Stacy: Yeah, and how did that work out?
 
George Stacy: I took an oath...
 
Gwen Stacy: Then arrest me, Dad... Get it over with.
 
George Stacy: I... I can't.
 
Gwen Stacy: Why not?
 
George Stacy: ...Because I quit.
 
Gwen Stacy: When?
 
George Stacy: About halfway through your big speech.
 
Gwen Stacy: You're... Wait a minute you're not-you're not gonna be Captain? Then that means...
 
George Stacy: My job... being Captain. This whole thing doesn't matter anymore. You're the best thing I've ever done.

The Bottom Line:

In 2015, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was a worldwide phenomenon.... for about a month. Then people started to see it for what it was; a nostalgia filled and pandering piece of fan service. Doesn't make it a bad movie; but it does make it a bad film. The best film pieces find a way to say something and make a point in a unique and interesting way. A masterpiece is born when the best films also find a way to make this storytelling incredibly fun to watch. Into the Spider-Verse was a masterpiece because it hit on almost every beat of the Spider-Man mythos in a way that was unique and enjoyable but paid the necessary respects to the lore of the character and his "multi-verse" It was a high bar to clear...A half decade later; two of the greatest screenwriters of our time (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) tried to improve upon perfection and the results were less than ideal. 

My number one complaint about movies and films is generally "It's about 20 minutes too long" Across-the-Spider-Verse is easily an hour too long. Lord and Miller give themselves A LOT to try and get done in this 2 hour, 20 minute run time and they don't even come close to finishing the elephant they've asked themselves to eat. In hindsight they needed to take one of two paths:

1) Cut out a LOT of this film. The rehash of Spider-Man 2 (2004) covering the old ground of how hard it is to be Spider-Man and Miles Morales/Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy/whomever adds NOTHING to this story and gets the film down to a fairly reasonable run time with minimal other changes necessary. 

2) Bite the bullet and make this movie into at least 3 movies total. This would be my preferred choice because there are three REALLY good stories being told here, they are just tripping all over themselves. You easily could have spread the story out into three films instead of three bloated acts. The first film should be everything that happens prior to Nuevo York, the second film was everything that happened on Nuevo York, and the third film is everything that happens after Nuevo York, and of course you continue your story moving forward as you apparently are in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2025) This choice has the added benefit of giving us MORE AWESOME SPIDER MAN MOVIES!

Spider-Man:Across the Spider-Verse (2023) is not a bad movie; especially if you consider the meta context around it with the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Loki (2021) Season 1. Lord and Miller take this rendition of Spider-Man into some very interesting and fun places and give him some very interesting and fun people (spider and otherwise) to interact with; they just bit off more than they could chew. They wanted to make a movie better than Into the Spider-Verse and ended up just making a movie that was MORE than Into the Spider-Verse. It's a shame, because they have done fans of the material a disservice. Instead of having 2-5 more movies to look forward to in this sandbox, I'm left underwhelmed by what I got and longing for what could have been.
 
Much like Uncle Ben, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. 

3 out of 5

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