While so many seem to adore this film, this was the most bloated, self-indulgent and mind-bendingly ridiculous Holland Spidey flick yet. It’s much too excited with the idea of ``could they do this?” rather than “should they do this?”; and most certainly not “how to instill logic or gravitas if we do it?”. It is over-stuffed with characters, half-assed notions, empty emotional depth, and clunky moving parts; all leading to a swollen runtime and a surprisingly hollow totality.
Conceptually, it is an enjoyable premise, with the fan service flag ran wildly through the streets. We knew such a film could kill from the far superior Spider-Man property, Into the Spider-Verse. But throwing in a bunch of elements and recognizable faces doesn’t mean that it can be executed with the same wit, engagement or excitement.
Bringing them all into one place is initially fun, but once they enacted the plot beyond that, it falters beyond gregarious smiling at the audience. Our protagonists constantly shun the big red “fix it all” button at every turn, to the detriment of the involved and bystanders the whole time, knee-capping the necessity and self-identification. They tried to save the lives of these ill-fated antagonists at the cost of how many other lives, livelihoods, and destruction? Was it worth it beyond plot necessity?
Garfield is fun and provides a suitable level of his Amazing quality to his version. Maguire’s sullen cardboard life model decoy of Peter was pretty atrocious. I had wished the interplay might dial up the differences between them all more, given this seemed like a stated goal, but those moments are fairly innocuous. As far as the villains go, DaFoe steals the show and leans in hard as the agent of chaos. Molina’s Ock is a fun reprisal, but I still can’t understand why he disappears for a chunk of the film. Also, why is Osborn the only one who tries to search for his non-villainous life in this other universe? They are all dropped in this new world and have only one drive - to kill a Spider-Man…really?
The way they poked the fans in the ribs with their constant winks and call backs, to the other series and the comic books, it seemed more a meta dance intent on provoking smiling nods rather than actually pushing the film, story, or characters forward. They had a solid blueprint with the previously mentioned animated masterpiece, but it just languishes in mediocrity without truly trying to dive into the heart of these characters or these worlds.
I’m glad others loved it but I found it pretty bang average.