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

[Mike Blakesley]

I gave up watching Marvel movies somewhere around the middle of the Avengers saga, because they all started seeming the same and I was having trouble knowing what was going on, what with all the interconnected plotlines, multiple villains, and such. But I did watch and enjoy "Spider-Man: No Way Home," and I remember that the first animated Spidey a couple of years ago got high acclaim (we never had time to play it so I didn't see it), so I kind of wanted to see this one.

The animation, I thought was outstanding. It was imaginative, took risks with the characters, and really kept my attention. It gave me the impression this this must be what an acid trip might look like. Any acid freaks out there, what do you think?

Unfortunately, outside of the animation which is groovy and fun, while the movie has some funny lines and a few scenes made me laugh out loud, overall this particular Spidey comes off as kind of a dreary affair. There is a villain type guy who shows up early on, who is covered with holes that he can drop anywhere he wants to make a hole. But then he disappears, and by about one hour in, I was falling asleep from boredom thanks to not having a clue as to who was who, what was happening, or what Spiderman was trying to accomplish, because thanks to the "multiverse" which is now required to be part of all Marvel and DC movies apparently, basically all laws of time, space and physics are now null and void, including the notion of story linearity, and anybody can be from anytime, anywhere, including the future.

In short, I give up. The movie ended with "To be continued," so maybe all these hanging threads will be tied up in the upcoming next animated Spider-Man. Unfortunately, I will probably not be watching it to find out.

My friend Keith, the Marvel nut, loved the movie, but I said "Tell me the story, tell me what happened," and he could not do it. So there you go. It's a movie that you can't describe.

2 out of 5 stars from me. We've had a few people come to it twice, so I dunno.

[Carsten Kurz]

Watching it a second time helps a lot with the understanding. ;-)
I'm certainly not the target audience, but, the animation/visuals are truly outstanding. I'd call this a masterpiece. The first 20mins or so were stressful. Once you're in it, it makes 'sense'.

The first animated spidey was quite conventional 3D Animation. This one is a feast for the eyes and mind.

[Mike Blakesley]

Here is the synopsis of the movie from Wikipedia. I read it thoroughly and I still don't understand the story. I don't see how anyone can make any sense of it.

On Earth-65, Gwen Stacy lives with her father, police captain George, who is unaware that she is Spider-Woman. Years prior, Gwen accidentally caused the death of her best friend Peter Parker while he was mindlessly rampaging as the Lizard, and the police have been hunting her ever since. One night, Gwen encounters a version of the Vulture from an Italian Renaissance-themed alternate universe. Spider-People Miguel O'Hara and Jessica Drew arrive using portal-generating watches and help Gwen subdue the Vulture. Gwen reveals her identity to George; distraught by the revelation, he attempts to arrest her. Miguel begrudgingly grants Gwen membership into his Spider-Society and she escapes through a portal with him and Jess.

In Brooklyn on Earth-1610, sixteen months after the Alchemax collider's destruction,^[a] Miles Morales misses Gwen and clashes with his parents. As Spider-Man, Miles encounters the Spot, an Alchemax scientist whose body was infused with portals after the collider explosion. The Spot blames Miles for his condition and reveals that, while originally testing the collider, he transported a spider from Earth-42 that later bit Miles. Later on, the Spot travels into a void, where he learns to travel to other universes containing colliders to empower himself further.

Gwen travels to Earth-1610 and reconnects with Miles while secretly tracking the Spot. Miles, invisible, watches Gwen trace the Spot to Earth-50101 before Jess calls Gwen, instructing her to cut off contact with Miles. Miles follows Gwen through a portal to Earth-50101, and they team up with Spider-Men Pavitr Prabhakar and Hobie Brown against the Spot, who absorbs the power of that world's collider. Before the Spot escapes, he and Miles share a vision of his future attack that includes Miles' father Jeff. As the collider collapses, Miles saves Police Inspector Singh, the father of Pavitr's girlfriend, but the dimension begins falling apart from a disrupted "canon event". Members of the Spider-Society arrive to assess the damage, while Miles, Gwen, and Hobie are sent to the Society's headquarters in Nueva York on Earth-928, where hundreds of Spider-People reside in a massive complex.

The three meet with Miguel and are joined by Peter B. Parker and his infant daughter Mayday. Miguel explains to Miles that each of the Spider-People's stories entail "canon events", such as the death of a police captain close to Spider-Man, and that straying from those events threatens reality. Miguel admits that he tried to replace a deceased version of himself from another universe who had a happy family, only for that universe to collapse.

Miles realizes that the Spot murdering Jeff, who will be promoted to police captain in two days, is a canon event. Miguel imprisons Miles to prevent him from saving Jeff, but Hobie helps Miles break loose before using a portal to quit the Society. Miguel orders all other members of the Society to stop Miles. Miguel eventually corners Miles and tells him that he was never supposed to become Spider-Man since the spider that bit him came from Earth-42, which consequently has no Spider-Man. Miles flees and supposedly returns to his home dimension with the help of Margo Kess / Spider-Byte. Considering Gwen a liability, Miguel forcibly sends her home. On Earth-65, Gwen reconciles with George, who has resigned as police captain. He then gives her a portal watch Hobie left for her, and Gwen decides to use it to find and help Miles.

Miles returns to his apartment and reveals to his mother that he is Spider-Man, whom she does not recognize. Miles realizes that he is on Earth-42, a world where his deceased uncle Aaron Davis is alive while Jeff is dead. Miguel, Jess, and Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider travel to Earth-1610 searching for Miles. Gwen arrives through her own portal, which she sends Ben through. She then speaks with Miles' parents and promises to bring him home, while Jess spies on their conversation. Aaron restrains Miles, and it is revealed Earth-42's Miles has become the Prowler.

As the Spot returns to Earth-1610 and begins his attack, Gwen assembles a team to find Miles, consisting of Peter B., Mayday, Pavitr, Hobie, Margo, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham.