Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

9.5/10

In this sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales/Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore) reunites with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and becomes involved with a trans-dimensional task force populated to the gills with various Spider-Men and -Women from across the multiverse.

This really carries the ball passed on from the first film: being a combination of heart, humor, and story. The interpersonal relations are so excellently done here. Whereas the last movie focused on Miles' father Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry), this film gives more screen time to Miles' mother Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and her relationship with her son. We also get a lot more screentime with Gwen Stacy than I expected. She's really as much the lead of this film as Miles, and we really get to see more about her life and what makes her tick.

The movie manages to balance the heavier aspects with a lot of fun jokes, more per capita than the last film. This movie lets the writers play as fast and loose with the Spider world as they want due to endless dimensions. They truly have an immense sandbox to play in. There are fair amount of Spider meta jokes to be found; this was clearly made by fans.

The story is pretty ambitious and you probably won't be able to guess where it goes; really, a very creative and well written script. This is darker than the last movie and manages to mine the Spider-Man history of personal drama and tragedy really well. This is one of those two-parter movies, so don't expect everything to be wrapped up here. But, man oh man, does this end on an enticing note.

It may have surprised a lot of people that the main villain in this is The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a mid/lower ranking Spidey villain. He was considered as a bit of a joke by fans when he first appeared in the 80's due to his silly name and appearance, but he's made more appearances in recent years with writers realizing how powerful his skill set is (he can create multiple small portals) and have been making him more of a threat. This movie runs with the characters' history in the fandom and comics and portrays the character as both humorous and threatening.

Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 is one of the primary characters in this and the only Spider-Man who's super serious and never throws around quips. His goals don't align with Miles' and serves as as a pretty solid anti-hero in this.

If you liked the other Spider-People in the last film, don't expect to see a lot of them here. The story just didn't seem to have room.

'Course what everyone remembers the most about the first one was the distinct and quality animation. This movie really manages to surpass that. The animation again is so vibrant and visually creative. Besides, having the world look like it was in the comic book pages, some of the characters from various worlds may have very different animation styles based on said worlds. If you had headaches and eye strain from the fact that the last film was a little like looking at a blue/red 3D image without the glasses, they cut down on that. It's still there somewhat, but it's not as distracting.

I'm impressed with the sheer amount of detail in this. All the worlds feel so lived in. This is the sort of animation a college instructor will use as an example in class.

If there are any weak spots to this, it's its length, running at 2 hours and 20 minutes. There are so many reveals and plot points that the whole thing might get a little exhausting by the end. Also, this movie carries the Spider-Man tradition of struggling with life's setbacks and hardships and the weight of being a hero as often demonstrated by broad quasi-philosophical monologues. It's part of the Spidey routine by now, but there's so much of it that it may weigh the film down for some.

Highly recommended. This is one of the most engaging and creative movies of the year and one of the best looking animated films ever. I think the first film was a little better mostly due to it being a more compact story. But the difference isn't by too much.