Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
It’s a weird thing being in the downward angle of the bell curve in regards to super hero movies. Yes, I know the internet has been arguing about “super hero fatigue” for the better part of 3 years or so, but it’s a natural phenomenon. EVERY SINGLE blockbuster tent pole genre has a life span. The epics of the 60s, the Musicals of the 40s and 50s, the gonzo action films of the 80s and early 90s (*sniff, I miss those days), the westerns, and now it’s the time of the Super Hero film. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be super hero films, but the days of the “big summer thing” with Marvel and DC being the major draws is coming to an end. DC is in desperate straights as it purges halfway produced films left and right, while Marvel has been pushing so much content that they’ve sort of over saturated the market to the point of exhaustion with every making less and less than the years before to the point where it looks like the majors are losing upwards of $100 million per film now (for theatrical runs. We all know that home video, streaming rights etc can boost profitability over time). But somehow Marvel managed to find a niche genre (sarcasm) to find actual profitability, and that they found in the 2018 film Into The Spiderverse. It was a cheaply done (comparatively) animated film at roughly $90 million to make, and made a VERY solid profit at $384 million world wide. It got heralded as a shining light among all of the fading stars of the live action films, and was by far one of my favorite films of 2018.

Fast forward 5 years, and we FINALLY get a sequel. One that stands out like a sore thumb simply due to the fact that it made an even larger profit than Into The Spider Verse. With a slightly higher $100 million budget it raked in a cool $700+ million at the global box office, cementing itself as the most profitable (compared to budget) superhero film in the last few years. Yes, live action blockbuster films are fading, but that means there is more room for more niche and unique options in the animated world to shine (plus there’s the fact that Spider-man is one of the big three that will almost always make money for the studios).

I’m going to admit that I purposefully went into Across the Spider Verse completely blind. And I mean COMPLETELY blind. I didn’t read press releases, I stayed away from online spoilers (that took some work) and I made sure to not talk to any of my friends in the industry about it either. I watched Into the Spider Verse completely blind and absolutely loved it to death, so I wanted to replicate that experience as much as possible, and boy did it pay off. I genuinely didn’t expect half of the twists and turns that they through in there, and the inclusion of Miguel O’Hara as Spider-man 2099 was a swwwwwwwweeeeet treat (as a kid who grew up reading the original 2099 mini runs I found Miguel to be the best alternate take on Spiderman considering that time period was when the Spider-man universe was imploding with ridiculous clones, and reboots and over complicated crossovers, but I digress). It’s fun, a brutal and yet light hearted film, and oh yeah, did I mention that this is actually technically a part one of two? (getting to the last few minutes of the 2 hour and 20 minute film and realizing we were left with a cliffhanger had me coming out of my chair saying “seriously!?” at the screen).

Taking place a year (ish) after the events of Into the Spider Verse, we find out what happened to Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) after she went home to her own universe. It seems she gets recruited by Miguel O’Hara (Spiderman from 2099) who is running a spider team of multi verse heroes to basically act as the time police. Her own father had just come face to face with the fact that she was Spidergirl, and with no where to she joins up with Miguel and Spiderwoman (the Jess Drew version from a few years back) to fight anomalies who jump universes. Simple right? Well, not so much. It turns out that Spot (Jason Schwartzman) from Mile’s Morales’s universe (Shameik Moore) is frustrated with just being a minor villain of the week (which is a rather hilarious wink and nod with how he was treated during the 90s) and finally figures out a way to beat Spide-rman. Use his teleportation spots to open up portals to different universes, using the collider technology found in each realm to soup himself up more and more to the point where he is an actual threat to the multiverse itself.

And this is where we get to meet Miguel again. Sucked into a new world of intrigue and excitement, Miles thinks he’s finally found a home among all of the other multiverse hopping Spider men. The only thing is, Miguel and the rest of them are holding back some of the truth. A truth that very well may unravel the ENTIRE continuity of events among all of the spidermen across time and space. Unfortunately, Miles has to learn the hard way that just because you’re the Goodguy, doesn’t mean you’re a GOOD guy, having to fight off Miguel and his depressing fate for Mile’s life in his effort to keep the spider verse safe. Now it’s Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man (and woman) in an all out race to save Miles’ family, and for Gwen to learn where her place in this entire thing is going to be.

Is Across the Spider Verse as good as Into the Spider Verse? In my opinion, most definitely yes. It’s just different. The first film had some jokes and wise cracks, but the sequel amps that up quite a bit, using self deprecating spidey humor and a loving poke here and there at the old cliches of previous films to make this a much more jokey venture. At the same time the story is EXTREMELY dark thanks to Miguel O’Hara. I loved Spider-Man 2099, but it was a completely different comic run than when Marvel rebooted/continued it in 2014. That is where the creator’s took their inspiration from, making Miguel a sort of anti hero, consumed with keeping the continuity correct, even if it means hurting some people in order to save others. He’s brooding, brutal, and so much of an an antagonist that it’s hard to actually see him as the hero that he really is (which is probably going to be resolved in the next film). But at the same time, it’s awesome to see Miguel finally take center stage, as he was one of the most under rated Spider Men of the day. Everyone loved Venom, Peter Parker (and now Miles Morales), and even The Scarlet Spider (they make fun of that angsty 1990s clone sooooo much in this film. I literally was dying laughing watching all of the winks and nods to the camera about how angsty the Ben Reilly storyline was back in the mid 90s), but little love was sent Miguel’s way. Despite the fact that he was a genuinely compelling variant of Spider-Man that lived outside of the normal continuity, and had the most potential of the 2099 reboots of the day.

While the story itself is compelling, I was more amazed at just much Spider-Man lore they crammed into the variants. You literally see winks and nods to the audience with over 100 different alternate variations, as well as cameos from a dozen different animated shows and the live action movies (seeing Tobey, Andrew and the rest on screen during the flashbacks was tear jerking). You can see that this entire venture had a LOOOOOT of love thrown into it, making it arguably the best Super Hero film of 22-23 by a long shot in my book. I was frustrated about it being a cliffhanger considering we’re right in the middle of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which means that we’re looking at 2024 or 2025 for the sequel that was already in development, but it was still a fantastic ride.




Rating:

Rated PG for sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements




Video:

Sony delivers a superb looking 1080p encode for the Blu-ray we received, and it’s nothing short of perfection. The animation style is a little weird, with almost picasso stylings in some shots, and a propensity for background objects to look out of focus (something that was a distinct style from the previous film as well), but the encode itself is just flawless. Every digital line and dot is there for the world to see, and the the colors are amazing. Check out the pink robe that Peter Parker wears, or the bright neon red on Miguel’s spidey suit. There’s just so much on screen at any one time, and I didn’t notice any major artifacting at ALL on this disc. Blacks are silky deep, and except for some weirdness where I swear I saw banding inside the spider base, this is a flawless looking encode.









Audio:

Sony continues their habit of relegating the Blu-ray release to 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound, while keeping the Atmos track exclusive to the 4K disc. Can’t say I’m a fan of that, but Sony is no slouch in the audio department regardless, and the 5.1 mix is quite stunning I must say. The dialog is clean and clear, and locked firmly up in the center like you would expect. The film is a kinetic adventure ride, so the surround mix makes great use of the side channels with some impressive panning effects (Miles escape scene is one of the most immersive parts of the entire film). Then there’s the bass. Explosions rip through the listening position with immense power, and the web slinging score thuds with each hip hop inspired beat. Simply put, this is SUPERB. Dynamic range is incredible and the whole immersiveness factor is off the charts. It may not be an Atmos track sense of immersion, but it is great nonetheless.












Extras:

• Filmmaker Commentary
• Obscure Spiders and Easter Eggs
• Deleted Scene: Miguel Calling
• "I'mma Do My Own Thing" Interdimensional Destiny
• Across the Worlds: Designing New Dimensions
• Designing Spiders and Spots
• Scratches, Score and The Music of the Multiverse
• Escape from Spider-Society
• Across the Comics-Verse
• Lyric Videos
• Creating the Ultimate Spider-Man Movie
• Raising a Hero
• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Cast

Final Score: ​

Yeah, this is a treat of a film. The animation style needs to be gotten used to, but once you get past that this is one of the most complex and fulfilling super hero adventures I’ve seen since Marvel phase 3. The movie clocks in at just under 2.5 hours, but feels like it’s only 90 minutes. There’s ups, there’s downs, there’s some side to sides, but at the end of the day it’s a FANTASTIC ride. I can not wait for the finale and this is easily a must own recommendation from me. I haven’t seen the 4K disc (sadly we only received the Blu-ray), but it looks and sounds fantastic, so highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Veles, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson
Directed by: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Written by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1,, Spanish, French DD 5.1, Englihs DVS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish, French
Studio: Sony Pictures
Rated: PG
Runtime: 140 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 5th, 2023

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Saw this in the theater as well as the first one. Loved both. Great movie for fans for sure. Only disappointment was the cliff hanger and stay tuned for the next release! Now, have to wait to see the ending!!!

 

[Michael Scott]

Thanks for the review. Saw this in the theater as well as the first one. Loved both. Great movie for fans for sure. Only disappointment was the cliff hanger and stay tuned for the next release! Now, have to wait to see the ending!!!

lol, I didn't see the "to be continued" coming and was like "are you kidding me?! I gotta wait?!"

 

[tripplej]

The whole audience felt the blow, the disappointment! lol. Still, a great movie to see. Can't wait for the final part, or at least, I hope the final part!