osby
Smash Obsessed
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2018
- Messages
- 23,676
So I watched Across the Spider-Verse. Despite having a few gripes with it, I still found it breathtaking. While the animation and music were just as good as the first movie and there were more strong character moments imo, I think the best thing about it was how it used different universes thematically:
Specifically, for both Gwen and Miles, leaving their universe symbolizes leaving their family behind.
Gwen's part is more obvious, as she runs away from her home universe. However, throughout the movie, we keep seeing glimpses that this didn't make her happy. She has to keep secrets from people she loves just like before and she's constantly split between doing her job and caring for others even though she doesn't see a difference between them. Running away didn't solve anything, no matter how far she goes from her universe, she can't leave her love for his father behind. When she leaves her universe at the end, Gwen doesn't follow anyone else. She knows what she has to do: saving Miles, rather than running away to him.
Miles, when we first see him, takes his family for granted. He loves them, for sure, but they're also something that he actively needs to get around for doing things he wants, like going to his dream college or superheroing. Being a part of the Spider society allows him to be with Gwen, sure, but it's also somewhere his family literally doesn't exist. Only after learning how Miguel sees his father as expandable that he realizes just how insignificant his whole world can be in the eyes of other people. It's just like moving away from your parents and learning that everything you valued before is just a small part of the world. In the end, when he tries to return, Miles is much more aware of what actually matters to him - who makes up his entire universe.
I think it's pretty amazing how well interwoven Miles and Gwen's character arcs are and how effectively the movie starts and ends through them. It's easy to use the multiverse concept as just a way to add funny shout-outs (which this movie had a lot of) but the writers went beyond that to give us a story that spans so many worlds but manages to keep it all centered around very human, small drama about feeling lost in a big world and connecting with others - quite fitting for two teenagers coming of age.
I can't wait to see how the next movie concludes the story, especially with Miles' confrontation with Prowler Miles.
Gwen's part is more obvious, as she runs away from her home universe. However, throughout the movie, we keep seeing glimpses that this didn't make her happy. She has to keep secrets from people she loves just like before and she's constantly split between doing her job and caring for others even though she doesn't see a difference between them. Running away didn't solve anything, no matter how far she goes from her universe, she can't leave her love for his father behind. When she leaves her universe at the end, Gwen doesn't follow anyone else. She knows what she has to do: saving Miles, rather than running away to him.
Miles, when we first see him, takes his family for granted. He loves them, for sure, but they're also something that he actively needs to get around for doing things he wants, like going to his dream college or superheroing. Being a part of the Spider society allows him to be with Gwen, sure, but it's also somewhere his family literally doesn't exist. Only after learning how Miguel sees his father as expandable that he realizes just how insignificant his whole world can be in the eyes of other people. It's just like moving away from your parents and learning that everything you valued before is just a small part of the world. In the end, when he tries to return, Miles is much more aware of what actually matters to him - who makes up his entire universe.
I think it's pretty amazing how well interwoven Miles and Gwen's character arcs are and how effectively the movie starts and ends through them. It's easy to use the multiverse concept as just a way to add funny shout-outs (which this movie had a lot of) but the writers went beyond that to give us a story that spans so many worlds but manages to keep it all centered around very human, small drama about feeling lost in a big world and connecting with others - quite fitting for two teenagers coming of age.
I can't wait to see how the next movie concludes the story, especially with Miles' confrontation with Prowler Miles.
