'Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse' Review — An Animated ...

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

When I went to Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse yesterday, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s been five years since the wonderful Into The Spider-Verse came out, and that movie totally blew my mind. But five years and a pandemic later, who knows? I’ve been burned by so many sequels.

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. When the movie ended and the credits rolled, there were audible gasps in the theater. One person exclaimed “What!?” and then the audience burst into applause. It was one of the coolest reactions from a crowd I’ve seen at any movie, and you’ll understand why when you see it.

Note: This review will only contain basic premise spoilers that you can get from the trailers and description of the film. I won’t spoil any big twists or turns or the ending.

Across The Spider-Verse kicks off some time after the events of the first film. Miles (Shameik Moore) is a bit older, a bit bigger and a bit depressed. He misses his Spider-friends from the previous film, all of whom headed home to their own universes once Fisk was defeated and we thought—mistakenly—that the multi-verse problem had been solved.

It turns out, the multi-verse problems had only just begun. We learn in the sequel that there are all sorts of holes that let various villains and monsters through one universe to another, and society of Spider-people has formed in an attempt to patch these holes. Holes play a pretty big role in the film, including in one of its villains, Spot (Jason Schwartzman).

Across The Spider-Verse

The leader of the Spider Society is a vampire Spider-Man named Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), a stern and rather unpleasant superhero. When Miles finds himself surrounded by Spider-People and in front of Miguel, he learns some pretty important things about the multi-verse and his role in it. Things get pretty wild, with some big action and big twists that left me speechless.

Across The Spider-Verse is a beautifully animated film that’s bursting with wild color and inventive artwork. It takes everything from the first movie and does it bigger. Every single scene is something to gawk at. The movie isn’t content to simply follow the art-style of the first film. Instead, it builds on that style, layering each moment with color and emotion and sound. It’s honestly a little hard to describe. There’s still that comic book feel of the previous movie, but it’s so much more. It can be a bit dizzying at times.

The story, meanwhile, goes in places you’ll never expect. It’s so tightly written that once you understand what’s going on, you’ll realize there were clues along the way you simply missed. (Or maybe you won’t miss them, but I did). One thing is certain: When you get to the end, you’re going to want more.

Miles and Gwen

The performances are all as terrific as the animation and the writing. We get a lot more of Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) which I consider a very good thing. Other characters from the first film return, including Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) as well as some newcomers like the anarchist punk-rock Spider-Man, Hobie (Daniel Kaluuya) and even the video game Spider-Man played by Yuri Lowenthal.

It’s a brilliant animated movie and, like the first film, honestly one of the best superhero movies I’ve ever seen, bringing not only fresh and new to a genre that feels rather stale, but also superbly crafted storytelling. I think the plot might be a little difficult for younger kids to follow, but they’ll enjoy the action and humor and wild animation that’s truly unlike anything else out there. Go see it on the biggest screen—with the best sound—you can find!

6/6 on the Revised Little Man review score scale. I really wrestled with this one. It’s a near-perfect movie, but should I give it a perfect score? Is it one of my favorite films of all time? Is it on par with the true greats? In the end, I think so. In many ways it surpasses the original film, which was close to perfect itself. Very few sequels do this, and I think this one deserves the highest praise.

Review Score

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