"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

"Everyone keeps telling me how my story is supposed to go. Nah. I'm-a do my own thing."

​

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Release Dates: Theatrical - June 2, 2023; Digital Media - August 8, 2023; Physical Media - September 5, 2023
Studio: Sony Pictures Animation
Directed by: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Written by: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller & David Callaham
Based on: Characters from Marvel Comics
Produced by: Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Christina Steinberg
Executive Producers: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Aditya Sood, Brian Michael Bendis
Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, with Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac

Description: Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most. Anyone can wear the mask – it’s how you wear it that makes you a hero.

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Talkback thread dated to release date, actually posted Sept. 2023, due to 2023 forum outage.

 

[Fone Bone]

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

I liked most of it. About two thirds of the way through the picture they did a questionable story turn. I guess, really, my ultimate opinion of the film will depend on how the third film shakes out. The ending leaves me a bit optimistic, but damn, the movie not failing this huge thing is not a given.

Let's talk about what I liked first. The animation style of Gwen's world felt like an art film. But it's not just the animation that looks like no other film. The thing that really impresses me is how the characters speak like real people. Okay, maybe real people aren't that clever and cool. But the dialogue is credible. There is something I notice about most computer animated films, particularly those by Dreamworks and Illumination. I think they try to have characters speak in a relatively "realistic" fashion when telling their jokes. Observational humor almost. Sort of to almost make the audience think they're watching a legit film instead of stuff with Donkey and the Minions. And the thing I notice about these scenes (besides the uncanny valley character animation going for subtle and touching and landing more on creepy and unconvincing) is that both the dialogue and the performances try too hard. They make SUCH an effort to sound natural it sounds phony instead. This movie? The real dialogue is credible. Not just the stuff at the end with Miles and Uncle Aaron. When the Da Vinci Vulture screams that that isn't art and Gwen replies, that they're talking about it, aren't they, it's like the movie has a good ear for dialogue, that as I often put it, snaps, crackles, and pops, and is part of this complete breakfast. If you want me to be brutally honest, this doesn't actually deserve too much praise. ALL movies should be able to do this. But it's the fact that they rarely do which puts the film doing that in the solid win column. It's not that I have no standards. It's just that most stuff has NO standards. A movie being merely competent at a necessary thing gets major credit if that necessary thing is still rarely fulfilled elsewhere.

Let's talk about the plot turn that turned me off. Once Miguel introduces the notion of "fixed canon" and the idea that all Spider-Mans NEED a defining tragedy their life, I'm like, "Nope." This crosses the line from science fiction to superstition. Miles was a great Spider-Man while his father is alive. I dispute his father needs to die for him to fulfill his destiny and for the Universe to not be destroyed. I reject the notion that every Peter Parker in every Universe is such an intrinsically amoral piece of crap that Uncle Ben ALWAYS needs to die to prove the point.

What I like is Miles himself says "No thanks, I'll do my own thing." He even has his own Spider-Rebellion going on at the cliffhanger ending. I like that. I think that it's still an open question how it will be resolved. But in hindsight, if the third movie decides that the moral of the story needs to be that Miles needs to allow his father to be murdered save the Multiverse and understand the true nature of sacrifice, I'll think the third movie (and this one) is crap. If the third movie lives down to my worst expectations and decides being "faithful" to the comic book canon is its job, I won't like it, or this one. If it cares about the characters instead, and allows them their own destinies and free will to make their own choices, I'll like 'em both. And just based on the lines drawn and sides picked at the end, that seems a likelier outcome than comic book slavishness. But until I see the third movie, it's not certain for me, so my praise of this one need to be measured. I'll give it's a respectable four stars for the dialogue and animation. If Beyond The Spider-Verse truly DOES allow Miles to be his own thing, I'll up the final grade to five stars. If the third film tows the Marvel company line however, I'll bump it down to two and a half or three instead. ****.

 

[Classic Speedy]

[saw this a few weeks ago so everything I'm typing is purely going from memory]

Pros:
-Looked amazing. I wish the framerate was higher in some scenes, but there was still a lot of creativity packed in here, the action scenes popped, and the different incarnations of Spidey in the last third kept things fresh.
-The Portal-esque bad guy offered some fun subspace action, even if some of it was too fast to follow.

Cons:
-The usual pet peeve I have with most movies nowadays about dialogue-based punchlines being too rapid fire and no room to let things breathe.
-So I didn't know before going in that this was going to be left on a cliffhanger. It's not like MI Dead Reckoning which has Part 1 in the title, this I was expecting to be largely standalone like the first one. It's a 2 1/2 hour movie. When I invest that much time into it, only for it to literally say "TO BE CONTINUED" at the end, I got a little annoyed, not gonna lie.
-Getting kinda tired of the multiverse as a concept at this point. Not just Marvel or DC, but in general. It's rapidly becoming a cliche.

Let's talk about the plot turn that turned me off. Once Miguel introduces the notion of "fixed canon" and the idea that all Spider-Mans NEED a defining tragedy their life, I'm like, "Nope." This crosses the line from science fiction to superstition. Miles was a great Spider-Man while his father is alive. I dispute his father needs to die for him to fulfill his destiny and for the Universe to not be destroyed. I reject the notion that every Peter Parker in every Universe is such an intrinsically amoral piece of crap that Uncle Ben ALWAYS needs to die to prove the point.

Good point. I feel like with the characters in the movie saying "You can't fight fate", it felt like a nod to predestination, a concept that, without getting into religious debate, I don't agree with.

 

[Rick Jones]

I've probably seen the movie about 5 times at this point. I was already in love with the first movie, but I was just hoping for a sort of good sequel here. I didn't expect everyone to go above and beyond like they did. It felt good to see it receive the financial and critical success it deserves. It has been a real shame to hear about the struggles that the animators dealt with though. I hope they can remedy that when the time comes to start on Beyond. It will already be enough of a struggle waiting for that one under the best of circumstances.

I might be the only human on Earth that popped when I saw VideoMan in the movie. I thought Spider-Man Unlimited looked glorious and I loved seeing and hearing Spectacular Spider-Man, even if it was sad to see him drink Miguel's Kool Aid.

I'd sold myself on the potential coolness of a series showcasing Peter B having to juggle marriage, fatherhood and superheroing, and it has been doubly so after seeing Mayday come to life on screen, adorably, and after seeing how much Pete loves being a dad.

The only struggle I had with the movie was seeing how many Spiders got on board with Miguel's idea of letting people die. In my head, Spider-Man will always fight to find another way and I can't believe Miles would be the only one here.

Miguel's tragic backstory has had me wanting to see him and Doctor Strange Supreme comparing notes.

 

[harry580]

I seen this movie back in June and I love it

 

[RoyalRubble]

Across the Spider-Verse will be available on Netflix in the U.S. on October 31.

 

[Spider-Man]

Side by side with Into the Spider-Verse as the best Spider-Man movies ever made. Even if part 3 doesn't land as strong this one still stands on its own as a towering achievement for the movie's creators. A great story that's full of emotion and some of the most clever animation I've ever seen. The maybe the only movie where the multiverse stuff doesn't feel tired or forced or just lame. That cliffhanger ending does sting but when it hit I could've sat down for 2 or three more hours for part 3. The movie's that good and nails so much of what I love about Spider-Man. Hopefully things go well that the wait for Part 3 wont be too bad.

 

[RoyalRubble]

11/08:
Sony sets Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live Orchestral Concert with Daniel Pemberton and Metro Boomin at Academy Museum.

11/29:
The script was posted online.

12/07:
Across the Spider-Verse was included in the AFI Top 10 Movies of the year list.

 

[Rick Jones]

That's well deserved recognition, from my perspective.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Golden Globes nominations-

Best Motion Picture – Animated
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

Congrats to the cast and crew for all the nominations and honors so far. Certainly well-deserved.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Add to the list Critics Choice Awards nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Visual Effects and Best Score.

 

[Pooky]

A pretty big change from the original, which is impressive even if I must admit I did prefer the first one myself. It's a good film but it's been extensively praised so I'll just mention a few things that didn't work so well for me. It feels like it really speeds by some pretty complicated plotting and conceptualising while slowing down for one or two too many (IMO) fairly cliched "emotional" scenes. Almost feels like it might have worked a little better if we'd had a solo Gwen film inbetween the two. There's also a plot twist that's threatening to become the "villain lets himself be captured as part of his masterplan" of the 20s. Amusing to me as I'm pretty sure I first saw it in a not very well liked then or now film from the late 90s. Still, whatever my reservations, I was very into it by the end.

 

[RoyalRubble]

01/03:
Across the Spider-Verse will have another limited theatrical run on IMAX screens, starting January 19.

01/11:
Annie Awards nominations were announced.

BEST FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation

BEST FX – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation – FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks — Pav Grochola, Filippo Maccari, Naoki Kato, Nicola Finizio, Edmond Boulet-Gilly

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Jesus Alonso Iglesias

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Daniel Pemberton, Metro Boomin

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Patrick O’Keefe, Dean Gordon

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Editorial Team

01/14:
Won the Critics Choice Award for Best Animated Feature.

01/23:
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

Congrats on the Oscar nomination, but I personally thought it got snubbed for Best Score.

 

[harry580]

congrats to spiderman for the oscar

 

[RoyalRubble]

01/27:
6 nominations at the NAACP Image Awards, for Outstanding Animated Motion Picture; Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Issa Rae and Shameik Moore are each nominated for Outstanding Character Voie-Over Performance; and there's also a nomination for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album.

02/05:
Won the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film.

02/18:

Annie Awards nominations were announced.

BEST FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation

BEST FX – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation – FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks — Pav Grochola, Filippo Maccari, Naoki Kato, Nicola Finizio, Edmond Boulet-Gilly

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Jesus Alonso Iglesias

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Daniel Pemberton, Metro Boomin

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Patrick O’Keefe, Dean Gordon

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Editorial Team

Won all 7 of the Annie Awards it was nominated for!


02/23:
Won 4 Visual Effects Society Awards -

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — Alan Hawkins, Christian Hejnal, Michael Lasker, Matt Hausman

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Spot — Christopher Mangnall, Craig Feifarek, Humberto Rosa, Nideep Varghese

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Mumbattan City — Taehyun Park, YJ Lee, Pepe Orozco, Kelly Han

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — Pav Grochola, Filippo Maccari, Naoki Kato, Nicola Finizio

03/17:
Won 2 NAACP Image Awards.

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Motion Picture)
Issa Rae – “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”


04/29:
Composer Daniel Pemberton announces U.S. concert tour.