Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, 2023.
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.
Featuring the voice talents of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali, and Oscar Isaac.
SYNOPSIS:
The second installment in the always-entertaining Spider-Verse movies hits 4K UltraHD. It looks amazing, of course, and Sony tossed in a nice big batch of bonus features too, along with a code for a digital copy. Highly recommended if you enjoyed Across the Spider-Verse as much as I did.
I’ll admit I’ve started to feel a bit of superhero fatigue recently. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s massive Infinity Saga storyline was an incredible feat of filmmaking, but it also feels like one of those “We’ve climbed the tallest mountain there is, so now what?” moments. I doubt I’m alone in not feeling as excited about the Multiverse Saga.
And as nice as it is to have the MCU under one roof at Disney, it’s actually not such a bad thing that Sony still has its own Spider-Man rights. 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was an incredibly audacious bit of filmmaking, and this year’s sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, is more of the same.
The first part of a two-part story, Across the Spider-Verse reintroduces us to an older, wiser, but lonelier Miles Morales, who pines for his old friend Spider-Gwen. However, when the Spot shows up and starts breaking down barriers between Marvel’s various multiverses, Miles gets the chance to not only reunite with her but also discover many of the Spider-Man variants running around the Marvel cosmos.
They include an older one whose true identity is Peter B. Parker (he’s married to MJ and has a baby), Spider-Man India, Spider-Punk, Spider-Man 2099 (hey, I bought the first issue of that comic book series way back when!), and many more than I can list here. We’re also introduced to a pregnant Spider-Woman who’s also a badass.
Whereas the first film put the focus of its character arc on Miles, this time Spider-Gwen has her turn in that spotlight. Her father is a police captain who’s unaware of his daughter’s secret identity. He has his force looking for this universe’s Spider-Woman ever since she (accidentally, as it turned out) killed her friend Peter Parker, which, you know, makes it pretty hard for him to deal with Gwen’s secret when he discovers it.
As the film’s title suggests, the action takes place across the Marvel multiverse, and the action builds not to a rousing finale but to a crisis point that sets the stage for the next film, Beyond the Spider-Verse. Some folks felt cheated by the way this film ends, but I’ve enjoyed this kind of filmic storytelling ever since I saw The Empire Strikes Back at the tender age of ten.
Sony has issued Across the Spider-Verse in a variety of home video packages. The one I received for this review was the 4K Ultra HD SteelBook that’s available at Best Buy. I appreciate SteelBooks whenever I can get my hands on them, and this one doesn’t disappoint. A Blu-ray and a code for a digital copy are included too.
The film looks stunning in 4K, of course, and the Blu-ray is no slouch either, so don’t worry if you haven’t upgraded to a 4K setup yet. The bonus features are found on the Blu-ray and with the digital copy too, except for the commentary track. (I have seen some digital copies of movies that include commentaries, so they do exist.) Here’s what you’ll find:
• Commentary: This is a group track with co-directors Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Kemp Powers, who are joined by co-writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It’s brimming with plenty of information, although sometimes the conversation goes off on tangents, which is the bane of many group commentaries. (The better ones use a moderator to keep the discussion on track.)
• Creating the Ultimate Spider-Man Movie (15 minutes): A basic making-of overview.
• Obscure Spiders and Easter Eggs (6 minutes): This is one of those movies that has stuff to look for in just about every scene, and considering how vast the Spider-Verse is, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are even more surprises beyond what’s covered here.
• “I’mma Do My Own Thing” Interdimensional Destiny (8 minutes): Multiverses are a lot of fun, and this is a quick look at how the filmmakers approached the concept here.
• Across the Worlds: Designing New Dimensions (8 minutes): Different universes means coming up with a variety of animation styles, color choices, and so forth, which is one area where animated movies can really shine. And this one certainly does.
• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Cast (13 minutes): The title pretty much sums up this one.
• Designing Spiders and Spots (13 minutes): The bad guys get their time in the spotlight here.
• Raising a Hero (9 minutes): Family is a huge part of these Spider-Verse films, and this featurette takes a look at how this installment approaches the idea.
• Scratches, Score and the Music of the Multiverse (5 minutes): I’ll confess I don’t always pay as much attention to a movie’s score as I do other parts of it, so this was a nice, if short, look at that element of this film.
• Across the Comics-Verse (8 minutes): Comic book writers and artists get their chance to shine here. Too bad they didn’t get more time to do so.
• Escape From Spider-Society (8 minutes): A look at a major chase scene and how the filmmakers pulled it off.
• Miguel Calling (5 minutes): A deleted scene is shown in its animatic form, which is usually how cut scenes from animated movies appear.
A batch of music videos round out the disc.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
