One year after the events of the last one, Miles is unexpectedly approached by his crush Gwen Stacy (dumb mistake on her part, long story). She tells him about the so called "Elite Society With All The Best Spider-People" she is in, run by Miguel O'Hara (not sure how I feel about him). Considering he's kind of isolated at this point (dead uncle, can't tell parents, particularly cop dad) it should come as no surprise that Miles wants in. Meanwhile, his new arch-nemesis, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, whom we now know as Spot, wants revenge on Miles as he unintentionally caused him to turn him into a mutant with multiple portals to alternate dimensions all over his body (yeah it's gross and very deadly). He now wants revenge on the 15-year old . The main goal is to stop Spot from destroying the multiverse, which Miles clashes over with Miguel on how to do it.
This movie was absolutely amazing, and possibly better (and darker) than the first one. It once again managed to make an idea that seemed extremely convoluted come together so perfectly. We saw the return of favorites such as of course Gwen (more on her later), Peter B.(with a baby), and a brief appearance from Peni. New characters were also introduced. The re-imagining of the pregnant Jessica Drew was pretty awesome, Spider-Man India had his cool moments, and Spider-Punk was hilarious and surprisingly helpful. Miguel........i'll talk about him later. The cameos were also pretty amazing. This movie was not joking when it came to ALL the spider-people being involved, as not only comic book iterations of Spider-Man appeared, but all three of the live-action Spider-Men either appeared or were referenced. The video game version made a cameo, a Lego version, different TV iterations, Hell even in terms of villains Donald Glover made an appearance as Prowler. This movie went all out and somehow it just worked.
We also got a lot of character development: Let's start with Gwen. Due to the death of her dimension's Peter Parker and her complicated relationship with her father (who happens to be a cop on the hunt for her), Gwen has a lot of inner demons she needs to work out. There are times when she is in over her head and it ends in heartbreaking results, including the possibility of indefinitely destroying her friendship with Miles. She seemed incredibly together in the first movie, but this one showed a different side to her. It's pretty much a reminder that deep down, she's just a scared little kid. It really added even more depth to an already well-written character. And while I am currently PISSED at her, I also kind of want to hug her. I will also briefly mention her relationship with Jessica Drew, it's obviously that Jessica wants to help Gwen. But she also understood that she can't baby her for much longer and it eventually reaches a point where she has to let her go. This is only a small part of the movie, but the fact that I'm still calling this out shows how amazing the writing is. Even the side characters were well developed, how the HELL did they pull that off?!
Spider-Man India was memorable mostly for his less than bland personality and a certain joke about tea. Spider-Punk was a comic relief at first, but if you re-watch the movie you will notice that they're came a certain point where he was trying to warn Miles of the pure HELL he was about to witness (Again, how did they pull that off?). Spot was also a comic relief at first. But the deeper we got into the movie, the more powerful he became. And the more powerful he became, the terrifying he became.
Miguel, not sure how I feel about him. The uptight leader of the Spider-Society has severe problems with Miles. Due to an event Miguel caused, he's HELL bent on saving the Spider-Verse and keeping it the way it is at ANY cost. While that is understood, how he tries to solve a problem is questionable. And the way he deals with people who disagree with him is way too extreme. This is shown when Miles comes into the picture and even becomes a situation with Gwen as well. Some of Miguel's methods are really hard to swallow and there were times when he had little to no care for the lives he may be affecting as long as he got his way. He's more of an anti-hero than an actual hero (which I think was the movie's intention for the character). Overall, he's a great character, I'm just not sure if I like him. To be honest, I hope Miguel dies in the next movie.
And last but not least, my favorite: Miles. I might be wrong, but I got the impression that he's kind of lonely at this point. His Spider-Man hijinks is beginning to effect his personal life as well as his relationship with his parents, who know he's lying and is not sure as to why. They are also fearful of Miles growing up and setting off on his own to a place where he will not be accepted (which sadly is echoed). Miles obviously wants to tell them the truth, but believes they will love him less if he does. With Aaron gone, he basically has no one to talk to. And upon walking into the whole "Spider-Society" situation, learns an incredibly heartbreaking reason as to why none of the others (aside from Gwen who was mainly there for an alternative reason) ever visited him. When Miguel reveals a possibility of an event hurting Miles' family, all HELL goes lose. Miles was put through IT in this movie. And while I wouldn't say he came out a winner, he definitely came out strong. And we will see that when it comes to his family, Miles will not take anyone's crap. We see just how much he has grown as a hero and became his own person, and we love him for that. But the amount of betrayals that he experiences and horrible revelations that came to light will also most likely put everything he thought he knew into question and created a broken wound that will most likely take while to heal.
I didn't really pay attention to the soundtrack. That doesn't mean it was bad, it just means I don't care. The score on the other hand was gorgeous. The voice acting was great, everyone did amazing job. And of course, the animation. Just when you think they couldn't go any harder with the animation, this movie goes above and beyond. This movie literally used so many different styles of animation that I'm not even sure were to categorize it anymore. Hell, there was even some live-action in the movie.
WARNING: The Ending Of This Movie Might Cause Your Head To Explode.
Okay, this was not a brief as I thought it would be, but I really did have a lot to say about this movie and I feel like I haven't been giving it my all with my movie reviews lately, so this was the perfect opportunity. If this did feel super long winded, I apologize. There was flaws with the movie and some possible references that I will not like. But at this point, I don't really care, it's could've been a lot worse. This movie was incredible, and I am TERRIFIED for the next one (which is set to be released on March 29, 2024, this will be the most painful 9 months of my life).
Thanks for reading.
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