Review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) by Calvincrack — 02 Jun 2023

It's a good movie but not as exceptional story wise as I hoped. It's a well executed and logical follow up that plays it somewhat expected (despite its visual audaciousness). Yes they throw a few curveballs at you, but...perhaps we've finally seen too many multiverse movies. If we're judging multiverse films as their own genre at this point, I found this plot run of the mill. One of the biggest single flaws in this film is its ending. They decide to pull back in the last stretch to bring it in for a soft landing with "To be continued...”. Well, has that worked for the Matrix or Back to the Future? Does anyone believe part 3 is the best of those franchises? (or part 2 for that matter?). Maybe Spider-verse will buck the trend, but it left a sour taste in my mouth knowing that - forever - this 140min film is not a standalone adventure. Stories need to have an ending. I understand why writers would want to take this route as it’s easier than having to reinvent the wheel twice, but for audiences we are left with a weakened second entry that feels incomplete. TV shows can get away with cliffhangers because the stories are already shorter to begin with, and they are meant to propel the next installment while maintaining viewer interest. For major studio films, I think it's a poison kiss of creative bankruptcy. It makes the second 2 movies in a trilogy feel more like a homework assignment rushed to turn it in. "Okay we wrote the damn trilogy." 'You mean...you wrote one long story and cut it in two?!'. It’s the cinematic equivalent of double spacing an essay. You know what I like about Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? It's reminiscent of the earlier films, but it's its own movie. You can be in a 'last crusade mood' or a 'temple of doom mood.'

My other big criticism of this movie is its pacing. The emotional beats are far too many and way too stretched out. I think uncle Ben dying in Spider-Man 1 took 1/10 the screen time of some of this and Across the Spider Verse is not 10 times better for the effort. It lends an air of self seriousness to an otherwise bouncy plot and weighs things down disproportionately to adding emotional heft. I dutifully watched but was unmoved by most of the emotional scenes. Which makes me suspect they were dutifully written more than deeply inspired.

Though the film is entertaining to watch for the most part my problems with it are more than simple nitpicks. I am curious to see how it holds up on second viewing, but I’m not compelled to go back soon. The first one I thought was a masterpiece when I first saw it, but has become more tedious on re-viewings and I can’t quite figure out why (my theory is that quippy dialogue does not age well). I suspect this movie may have similar issues but I sincerely hope I am wrong and that the opposite happens where I appreciate it more as time goes on… especially once part three is released and the ending of this one is more of a detail than a disappointment.