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

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

The Spider-Gwen Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) is having a hard time fitting in. She loves to drum but the band she's in doesn't appreciate her, especially when she loses track of the song and plays too long. She is still obsessed with Miles Morales, the Spider-Man of another universe that she spent so much time with in the previous movie. Miles is having a hard time himself--his parents are pushing him ahead into college even though he's a sophomore. He still has a crush on Gwen but she is literally in another universe. He fights a new villain of the week, the Spot. The Spot is a guy who can project holes on things. He hasn't perfected his abilities yet...not even close. He can't rob a convenience store ATM no matter how hard he tries. He and Miles fight it out while Miles' parents visit with the school counselor about college applications (a meeting Miles is supposed to be at--the typical Spider-Man problem of needing to be in two places at once). 

Gwen does come to Miles's universe and visits her guy while she tries to track the Spot's activities. Spot is trying to improve his abilities and work out his frustrations with no longer having a regular life. He blames Spider-Man and wants revenge. He also discovers a way to slip between universes using his holes, offering him an opportunity to increase his powers and his skills. Gwen is secretly part of a Spider-cabal of various Spider-people from various universes. They've been working to keep the different universes separate, so Spot's crossing over is a big problem. Miles wants to go with Gwen when she leaves to deal with Spot. She says no. Miles slips through the portal she generates anyway, leading to a lot more plot complications and developments.

The movie is another creative triumph, both visually and in storytelling. Many different Spider-Men, -Women, -Animals, and -Others populate the film, far too many to even identify in one viewing, let alone one review. They are all twists on the Peter Parker original, with similar origin stories and life experiences. And yet they are all their own people, not repeating Peter's personality over and over. The variety leads to conflict and to interesting situations, causing the story to grow in fascinating ways. It turns out Spot isn't the only antagonist in the film.

The plot covers familiar ground and new ground. Miles has to deal with the stress of his secret identity, fighting crime while also being a student with his academic obligations and a son with his family obligations. He still mourns the loss of his uncle while having difficulty dealing with his dad, a cop who is after Spider-Man. When Miles jumps into the worlds and lives of other Spider-people, he has to deal with how a lot of bad things happen to them, some seemingly fated to happen to every Spider-individual. The Spider-cabal, in addition to stopping random cross-contaminations, ensure that each Spider-variant goes through the same story beats. Miles chafes at this, especially when he realizes that he has not gone through some of the story beats his other versions have gone through that involve death. And he doesn't want to. And he doesn't understand why the rest of them just accept it. The situation creates interesting tensions that are surprisingly compelling. The drama caused by alternate realities works because the characters are well-written and well-performed, it is not just a hodge-podge of ideas. The familiar ground is good and the new ground is also good.

Recommended--this is a fine sequel to a fine original.