Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) (1 Viewer)

[Joe Wong]

97% on Rotten Tomatoes after 34 reviews.

Many Twitter reviews are proclaiming this as even better than the first!

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm dropping out of this thread until after my screening.

I hope everyone here who is going has a fantastic time and I look forward to discussing it afterwards.

 

[Sam Posten]

12 hours to go. What’s up, danger?

 

[Wayne_j]

I saw this today and enjoyed it a lot. The movie kind of just ends suddenly and "to be continued" pops up on the screen at the end.

No mid credits scene, I didn't stay to see if there is a post credit one.

 

[TonyD]

Yeah it’s part 1 of a 2 part arc.

 

[DaveF]

Let’s be gracious with avoiding revealing spoilers on release weekend . What you might think is common info is new spoiler for others.

 

[TonyD]

Ok fair enough but….
I remember these movies being announced as part 1 and part 2 with the same title for each one.
Wouldn’t that be like saying BTTF having a part 2 and 3 is a spoiler back then? It was also announced that way

 

[DigniT@DigniT!]

Just seen. EXTRAORDINARY! I cannot wait to see it several more times. I thought the first of these films was super as well. This is even more satisfying, surprising and compelling.

 

[DaveF]

Ok fair enough but….

Spoiler: A

I remember these movies being announced as part 1 and part 2 with the same title for each one.
Wouldn’t that be like saying BTTF having a part 2 and 3 is a spoiler back then? It was also announced that way

I don’t know anything about that. Which is my point.

There’s no perfect solution here. Spoiler-averse viewers sound also know that coming into a review/discussion thread on release weekend is risky business and choose accordingly.

 

[Jake Lipson]

No mid credits scene, I didn't stay to see if there is a post credit one.

There is not. I think that the film ends in such a way that any scene after the end would have to pick up right from there, and they obviously wanted to leave the cliffhanger exactly where it is and not expand on that more.

And yes - Sony announced that the film was being split in half all the way back on December 4, 2021 when they released a trailer calling this "Across the Spider-Verse Part One." That information has been on record in this thread without spoiler tags for 544 days. Therefore, I don't think we can suddenly start calling it a spoiler. It would be a spoiler to talk about where the film leaves these characters, but everyone involved have been very open that this is part of a larger story.

I thought it was absolutely sensational.

This summer movie season hasn't been great for me so far. Guardians was too grim and The Little Mermaid was misconceived. Across the Spider-Verse is the first blockbuster in a while that has really delivered. It was a thrilling movie experience in every respect.

 

[Joe Wong]

Even after seeing all the rave initial reviews for Across The Spiderverse, I didn't expect it to exceed my already lofty expectations. And yet, it smashed them, by quite a fair amount. One could even say, "obliterated".

Across The Spiderverse is, as @Jake Lipson said above, an absolutely sensational follow-up to Into the Spiderverse. It takes the foundations established in the original and amps up the story complexity, the emotional depth, the spectacular animation and artwork, and the incredibly kinetic action, while managing to throw in a bunch of surprising yet logical twists that add even more layers and intrigue. Does it all work? Is it cohesive? Does it stick the landing? Oh, yes! By a factor of 10, and then some!

If there is to be complaint, it's that the dialogue is so quickfire during some of the early exchanges it's easy to miss what was said. But that's a small negative, and certainly may not apply for everyone. If anything, it adds to the reasons one should see this again. There's just so much to unpack in this marvel of a film. It is, quite possibly, the best Spider-man story to be put on film, and one of the greatest comic book films, period. More, please.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Does it stick the landing? Oh, yes! By a factor of 10, and then some!

I'm going to disagree with this part of your post only because there is no landing to stick at the end of this film. I really thought this was great, but the nature of open-ended cliffhanger storytelling means that we'll have to wait until next year to see if it sticks the landing. It depends on how this ends, and we just don't know that right now.

We were talking in the Indiana Jones thread about sequels that tarnish their predecessor, and this is a good example of where that could be possible. Right now, I think this film is an extraordinary success. But since there is essentially no ending here, it would reflect very badly on this film if the third one concludes the story in an unsatisfying manner. I should say that I don't think that's very likely because they've now made two excellent films with this series. But, theoretically, it would become very hard to revisit and enjoy this film if for some reason the third just goes completely off the rails. Knock on wood.

That being said, I do think this film ended exactly the way it needed to in order to make us want to come back next year to see what happens next.

 

[Joe Wong]

I'm going to disagree with this part of your post only because there is no landing to stick at the end of this film. I really thought this was great, but the nature of open-ended cliffhanger storytelling means that we'll have to wait until next year to see if it sticks the landing. It depends on how this ends, and we just don't know that right now.

We were talking in the Indiana Jones thread about sequels that tarnish their predecessor, and this is a good example of where that could be possible. Right now, I think this film is an extraordinary success. But since there is essentially no ending here, it would reflect very badly on this film if the third one concludes the story in an unsatisfying manner. I should say that I don't think that's very likely because they've now made two excellent films with this series. But, theoretically, it would become very hard to revisit and enjoy this film if for some reason the third just goes completely off the rails. Knock on wood.

That being said, I do think this film ended exactly the way it needed to in order to make us want to come back next year to see what happens next.

Point taken regarding “sticking the landing”.

My use of that phrase is not so much that the landing is referring to the ultimate conclusion of this 2-parter (which I knew about going in), but that, in and of itself, this film succeeded so well (especially after the excellence of the original) that it was tantamount to “sticking the landing”, if you get my drift.

And afterwards, my younger son (who was just as blown away) mentioned that Beyond has to maintain the quality otherwise Across will be seen in a lesser light. Which aligns with what you’re saying as well. It’s similar to Infinity War and Endgame, where Endgame did stick the landing, so to speak.

The opposite situation occurred with Game of Thrones, where the haste to wrap up the story in seasons 7 and 8 led to negative feedback and somewhat tarnished the entire series.

 

[Jake Lipson]

(especially after the excellence of the original)

Can we talk about this for a minute?

I watched the first film again yesterday afternoon prior to my evening screening of the sequel. It held up as it always does, which was not a surprise. But coming out of the sequel and texting friends who haven't seen it yet, I was struggling to find the appropriate words because what they have done here really makes the original look quaint. As we know with sequels, bigger does not always necessarily equal better, but in this case they've made it bigger in pretty much every way without losing any of the qualities that made the first movie special. This is especially impressive considering that the directors of the first film did not return.

 

[Joe Wong]

Can we talk about this for a minute?

I watched the first film again yesterday afternoon prior to my evening screening of the sequel. It held up as it always does, which was not a surprise. But coming out of the sequel and texting friends who haven't seen it yet, I was struggling to find the appropriate words because what they have done here really makes the original look quaint. As we know with sequels, bigger does not always necessarily equal better, but in this case they've made it bigger in pretty much every way without losing any of the qualities that made the first movie special. This is especially impressive considering that the directors of the first film did not return.

Fully agree.

I rewatched the original on Wednesday night. It’s quite an excellent film, in terms of story, character, action, animation, artistry, music, etc.

And yet, as I described above, Across “obliterated” my expectations going in. The new directors went for the jugular, so to speak, amplifying pretty much every aspect that was so good from Into and making it even better. My 2 sons (19 and 17 years old) and I sat there at the end, as the credits rolled, stunned at what we had just seen. They’re huge fans of the original and were just blown away. They were almost shaking in disbelief at how good this was, and couldn’t stop talking about it.

Incredible, exciting stuff!

 

[Josh Dial]

Okay, so I know every movie is art. 2001 is art. Jurassic Park is art. That movie you made with your friends in high school using your parents camcorder is art. It's all art.

But Across the Spider-Verse is art.

It's also a phenomenal movie. It's Spider-Man: the character: the movie. Spider-Man at his best is funny, emotional, angsty, kinetic, dynamic, flashy, and filled with heart. That's this movie.

10/10

 

[Malcolm R]

I didn't care for the first (which I bought blind on 3D blu). Is there anything here that might make me like this one or is it just more of the same?

 

[Jake Lipson]

Is there anything here that might make me like this one or is it just more of the same?

It's definitely not just more of the same. This film has taken everything form the first film to another level. They are telling a story on a much broader canvas, with everything elevated, from bigger action and deeper emotion.

However, if you didn't like the first one then I'm not really sure that your response to this one would be positive. This is the kind of expansive sequel that you get to make because the first film really worked and set the table so well. It is absolutely building upon the foundation that the first film provides. What is it that you didn't like about the first one?

 

[Malcolm R]

What is it that you didn't like about the first one?

It's been quite a while, so I don't recall specifics. I know I didn't care for the animation style so much. Seems like the story wasn't that engaging for me and I've never been much of a fan of multi-verse type stories.

I have vacation coming up, so maybe I'll give it a re-watch to see if it's better the second time around.

 

[Edwin-S]

I didn't care for the first (which I bought blind on 3D blu). Is there anything here that might make me like this one or is it just more of the same?

If you don't like the animation style the I doubt this one is going to change your mind, since the style is pretty well the same as the first one just from looking at the trailers and.clips that have been released.