Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse 2023
In 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse got very good reviews, breathing new life into animated superhero movies, including a well deserved Oscar for best animated feature, and an A from me, finishing 4th on my Top 10 list, beating out even the legendary Paddington 2. This year, another entry was released and again got very strong reviews despite or maybe because so many of the live action superhero movies have been so disappointing lately. I definitely wanted to see this, but didn't make it to the theater until several weeks into its release. The first half of this movie is amazing. They are establishing two of the characters from the last movie, Miles Morales as Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy from an alternate universe as Spider-Woman. Both are complex characters with strong, but strained, family relations and few friends. There are some great lines and real emotion as they deal with their issues while also fighting bad guys in impressive fashion. There is some very intelligent writing at work here. The animation again is stelllar, truly bringing comic books to life. Still, stuff happens so fast or is said so quickly that I felt like I was missing some pieces of what was happening and why. The pace and graphics are so intense and frenetic that it is hard to maintain that and you start getting a little tired of it during the second half. Some very techy multiverse stuff starts happening and I thought with some dread that there was no way this was getting resolved before I left the theater. And it turns out this is just part 1, with part 2 due out next March. I'm taking off a little for them not making that clear up front (though I try to stay as unspoiled as possible) and for the second half grind. I am not at all sure part 2 is going to hold up, but I'm hopeful. Definitely recommended and I would probably give this an A if it had actually wrapped up the story.
Written: 28 Jun 2023
Owned on: Digital