Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Just as a point in every direction is no point at all, one must also ask: if everyone is Spider-Man, then isn’t that the same as nobody really is Spider-Man? Is there nothing truly distinctive to the character that asks for something specific in the persona? The above may seem contradictory, but the thread, if you will, that binds much of this work together is contradiction. When this story reaches its key inflection point, with proclamations about not changing the canon, a viewer of any intelligence must be thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding.” The entire point of this exercise, here and in its predecessor, is about changing the canon—a fact made more and more obvious with each expression of its overarching agenda. (You may fill in that blank yourself.) And then, internal to that, there’s a gigantic contradiction in the stated premise that Miles is the source of the problem, so to speak. (I don’t want to spoil anything, but you can ask yourself: if Miles is an anomaly as stated, then how can he ... that’s about all I can give you.) Thus, there are issues here that should leave even the Generation AA-types this movie was made for scratching their heads, if not specifically calling bullshit. However, a huge part of this series’ appeal is the films being visually overwhelming, and that’s the sort of thing that can shut down higher brain functions. (That, I’m implying, may be intentional.) Huge swathes of the animation remain frenetic, to the point that an observer must wonder if there haven’t been a few seizures as a result of watching this flick. There’s also the danger of confusion, as the plot is so ambitious in the stories it is trying to tell that it can be easy to lose track of where you are at any given moment. A further consequence of that narrative largesse: the movie is so focused on the home life of its multiple protagonists that the villain, typically a major part of any superhero story, disappears for long stretches. Meh, he’s not that compelling anyway. Given these issues, how can this movie succeed? Mostly, it’s because the main characters are so damn likable that the viewer cares what happens to them in the end, and will be most disappointed if things go ill for these people. Alas, there’s a cliffhanger, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it all turns out. Again, I’ll go along for the denouement; I just wish I didn’t have to wade through so many layers of muddle and agenda to get there.