Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse

The second installment of the insanely successful Miles Morales saga – Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse – finally arrived in my local showhaus. And it’s about time, too. I’m not sure what the record is for sequel waiting (my money is on Top Gun: Maverick) but it’s got to be up there. I mean, Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse was a fantastic success, some consider it to be the animated movie GOAT. I’m not ready to anoint it, but it was indeed awesome. The second installment was nearly as awesome. Nearly but not quite.

Ah, That Hits the Spot

Even though we in this universe had to wait five years for Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse, only a year or so has passed for Miles. Neat trick that I wish very much I could do. We pick up the story with Spider-Man doing his web-swinging, wall-crawling thing. He is suffering the same burdens that OG Spidey Peter Parker endured…missing classes, lying to family and friends, the occasional threat to life/earth/universe/multiverse. The usual superhero bailiwick. He is introduced to a new villain that seems very jokey: The Spot. Don’t judge this book by its holey cover.

Spidey and Gwen, Sitting in a Tree…

Apparently, all Spider-persons also have unrequited love issues, and Miles is no different. It becomes clear early on that he still pines for the otherverse Gwen Stacy. Why didn’t he just hit up the Gwen from his own universe? No clue. But, as luck would have it, Gwen has become part of an inter-universe operative force made up entirely of spider-folk, the staggering variety of which are one of this movie’s greatest joys. If you are a fan of the booklore, there were more versions than one viewing allows you to remember. But fear not…non-fanboys will enjoy it all the same.

One of the first movie’s greatest attributes was the animation, which blended some drastically different artistic styles (representing different realities) in an melange of color and shape…a literal feast for the eye and mind (chef’s kiss). I am unashamedly a connoisseur of the tangible, hold in your hand and mylar bagged treasures, so my brainbone loved every second of it. As is the tradition with sequels, Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse tried and succeeded in upping the ante on that quality to nearly seizure-inducing levels. That’s not hyperbole, so you have been advised. I was momentarily taken out of the flow of the movie a time or two, which I absolutely dislike.

The flow of Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse was a little hectic, it crammed a whole lot of story into its already 2 hr 16 min runtime, so maybe it felt a little overlong. But only a little. And that brings me to my last knock…what the heck is up with the whole cliffhanger ending thing going on? As with Fast X (which I also loved) this movie was a two-parter and I had no clue walking into the theater! Not that it would have made much of a difference but at least I wouldn’t be wondering how all this story was going to be wrapped up as we were around the 2 hr mark. At least Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning has forewarned us that it’s a multi-part affair. Kudos, Paramount! Well done.

I would love to talk about specific events and scenes in this movie that I loved, but that’s impossible to do without spoilers. After I had the death of Han Solo spoiled for me a few years back, I am adamant about not blowing a movie for anyone. Better to just say there are a metric shite-ton of so SO cool cameos and characters. Like the Easter Egg Bunny was also a Spider-freak like me. So let’s just get to it. I’m giving Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse an enthusiastic 4.75/5. Go see it before someone accidentally ruins any of the awesome surprises that await.

*And BTW, always spell Spider-Man with the hyphen. I know its tempting to omit it like so many others (Batman, Superman, Deadpool, Daredevil the list goes on). But it really, really annoys him. It’s his pet peeve. He can even tell if you are saying it without the hyphen. Is that a super-power? Don’t know. But he’s Spider-Man so respect.

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