Film Review: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

It’s so rare that we have a film like Into The Spider-Verse, right? Like, usually when we reach a new milestone in filmmaking, it’s something that requires hindsight, but with that animated Spider-Man movie that seemingly came out of nowhere, it was apparent from the get-go that we have a legitimate game changer on our hands. Making it even more rare is the fact that it’s a game changer for animation that doesn’t involve more realistic renders, if anything, it completely goes against every instinct of modern western animation in favor of something genuinely bold and inventive. That doesn’t happen often.

You know what else doesn’t happen often? A game changer that gets topped by its successor. Now, I won’t say that Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is an overall better film than the first. I’ll just say right now that it is not. But speaking purely in technical and artistic expression, it might be one of the boldest pieces of animation…ever? Even looking back at clips of Into The Spider-Verse (which I’ll just refer to as ITSV moving forward), it becomes very clear very fast that the team behind Across The Spider-Verse, particularly the new directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, took the welcomed reception of ITSV’s visual aesthetic, and decided to go even harder for the sequel.

The story on the other hand? Well, it’s a touch complicated. Apparently, with the likes of Dune, Fast X, this film, and maybe even the upcoming Mission: Impossible flick, we are in an age of cliffhanger endings in our blockbusters. Which maybe isn’t the biggest issue ever had it been advertised as such. This was originally called Across The Spider-Verse: Part 1 with the next being Part 2 before being changed to Beyond The Spider-Verse. Now, you might be thinking, “wow, how ambitious is this film that they felt the need to split it into two parts, with the first half alone being two hours and 20 minutes?”

Well…it is ambitious, I will give it that. But now that I’m settling down from the high of the immediate visceral experience of it, the impression that I got is that this could have either been a really solid two hour 45 or even three hour feature (hey, if you’re gonna go big, go big), or they could have ended this at an earlier point. The last half hour felt very end-of-The-Return-Of-The-King-ish. I did become aware prior to seeing it that it will end in a cliffhanger, so I was preparing myself as the film felt like it was setting us up for a wild reveal or a big moment, which happened…and then they kept going, and it proceeded to have at least three or four other moments that would have easily been a suitable cut to black with a “To Be Continued.” Not to say that it didn’t end on a compelling note, but by that point, I am a little worried that Beyond The Spider-Verse is basically going to be one really long third act.

However, as much as I might gripe about some of the structuring, I simply cannot discount that immediate visceral experience that I talked about earlier. This film has a lot going on, not necessarily plot wise, it’s fairly straight forward – Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) encounters The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a villain who uses portals who ultimately finds himself gaining the power to travel dimensions and universes at will, and Mile’s attempts to stop him gains the attention of the Spider-Society, a league of Spider-People from multiple universes, led by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), which Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) had recently become a part of. However, Miles discovers that the motivations behind the organization might not be of his best interest. Yes, there’s lots of finer details I’m leaving out, but that’s the basics.

Now, when I say there’s a lot going on, I mean that in terms of its visual style. It veers off the glitchy, old school comic book four color printing method aesthetic, and dives straight into expressionism. Each universe that we visit has its own unique look, Mumbattan was a highlight for me, which featured Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni). But sometimes, especially with Gwen, the backgrounds will reflect the emotional moment. One scene in the last stretch of the film where she was talking to her father, Captain George Stacy (Shea Whigham), the background has this melting watercolor look that was incredible to behold. Sometimes, the visuals can get a bit noisy, there are moments where my eyes and my brain felt completely overwhelmed by what I was looking at. There were numerous stretches where I wasn’t even blinking because I was scanning as much of the screen as possible in case there was an Easter Egg or a background gag or other fun detail that I didn’t want to miss.

Thematically, I think there’s something really interesting stuff at play. The screenplay credit goes to Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham, and not too dissimilar from their approach to ITSV, and even The LEGO Movie, there is some meta commentary at play. The thematic crux of this film is about choice and destiny, but not in the way you usually see. There are things called “canon events,” moments that are essential for every Spider-Person in every universe that defines what they are, and anything done to steer away from it is seen as a bad thing that must be stopped. I can’t help but see this as the filmmakers exploring the nature of writing property like Spider-Man. How much do you devote yourself as a creative to the expected tropes and beats of whatever you are writing, and how much can you give yourself the freedom to truly break the mold? It’s hard to dig into all this considering the story isn’t finished yet, so I’ll be very curious to see how these themes pay off in Beyond The Spider-Verse.

Like with a lot of one-parter movies, a lot of what will make Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse work will depend on how well they stick the landing on Beyond The Spider-Verse in March of 2024. However, Across The Spider-Verse does leave a very good impression and a strong vote of confidence that this is building up to something really special. It’s almost an embarrassment of riches. Because not only is it even more of a technical marvel than the first film, it is still just as thrilling, fun, and full of so much heart. Daniel Pemberton’s score is absolutely killer. The characters are as endearing as ever, and the new additions like Miguel, Pavitr, Jessica (Issa Rae), Hobie (Daniel Kaluuya), among many others, also manage to make a strong impression. Luna Lauren Vélez is my personal MVP as Miles’ mom, Rio. I will say that I did not find this to be as funny as the ITSV, the humor seems to have taken a back seat this time around, not to say it isn’t there, just that it isn’t as prominent. Though there are some really hilarious gags that I cannot spoil. It’s truly a joyous and inventive ride that pushes the boundaries of what western animation – and comic book movies in general if we’re being totally honest – is capable of, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they are able to continue this streak through to the next film.

 

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is now out in theaters.