Movie Review: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (Second Opinion)
Plot: Little more than a year has passed since the events of Into the Spider-Verse and fifteen-year-old Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is doing his best as New York City’s one and only Spider-Man. Yet the struggles of schoolwork, family, and being a full-time superhero are taking their toll. When Miles’ friend Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) unexpectedly shows up to track down the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), Miles follows Gwen when she leaves Miles’ universe. Before long Miles finds himself encountering the Spider-Society headed up by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). But Miles’ joy at once again finding others like him is short-lived as he discovers a terrible truth that may unravel the fabric of existence and cost him his family, his friends, and his future.
Review: Five years ago—like a lot of people I suspect—I wrongly assumed that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was going to be just another paint-by-numbers children’s animation film, one step above Despicable Me 3. I could not have been more wrong. Not only did it push the boundaries of animation, but it also proved to be a thrilling, funny, captivating, and surprisingly nuanced film that won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Oh, and it also ended up being the best Spider-Man film ever made in this humble critic’s opinion.
The fact that I’m really wrestling with whether Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an even better film speaks volumes about the quality of this movie.
Cathartic, powerful, thematically deep, and absolutely gorgeous, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse once again pushes the limits of animation. With just over $400 million in box office returns worldwide in under two weeks, it also proves that audiences will still show up for comic book films if you make a great movie. And this is certainly that.
From a technical standpoint alone, this movie is worth the price of admission. Stunning doesn’t even begin to cover it. The animation design team that Phil Lord and Chris Miller set up is next level. The pair are true Spider-Man sweaties, bringing in comic book artist Kris Anka (X-Men, Captain Marvel) to head up character design. Lead animator Nick Kondo does a stupendous job and was tasked with creating six distinct animation styles to reflect the various Spider-Verses. Gwen Stacy’s universe for example comes off as impressionistic and was designed to look like watercolor paintings while Miguel O’Hara’s Nueva York features a neo-futurist look based on the illustrations of Syd Mead. Rather than being disjointed, the juxtaposition creates a synergy and distinctness I wasn’t expecting. The animation compliments Daniel Pemberton’s phenomenal score and record producer Leland Tyler Wayne’s (also known as Metro Boomin) soundtrack absolutely rips. Credit as well to the directing trio of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson who balance action, humor, and drama with a story that addresses some heavy themes.
Speaking of story, Miller, Lord, and Dave Callahan’s script is perhaps the best superhero script since The Dark Knight. It absolutely deserves a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination next year at the Academy Awards. It’s an excellent commentary on how our mistakes shape us and the crushing loneliness of feeling like a misfit, or in Spider-Verse terminology, an anomaly. It’s also about the joy of finding your tribe of fellow outcasts and the struggle of doing the right thing when you’re being pulled in a million different directions. It also serves as a meta-commentary on the nature of canon and our obsession with it. And in a time when the superhero genre is saturated with the “the universe is at stake” trope, to the point that it’s lost all meaning, Across the Spider-Verse flips the paradigm. The stakes are “How can I save my Dad?” and it works. I was also impressed by how Across the Spider-Verse takes time to breathe and exhibit some truly dramatic moments. A scene early on between Miles and his Mom Rio (Luna Lauren) about uniqueness and knowing you are loved and valued had me tearing up. This script operates and finds success on so many different levels it is staggering.
Hailee Steinfeld and Shameik Moore once again deliver sublime voice performances and remind us that voice work is just as difficult and equally as important as live-action acting. We also get the welcome return of Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker although Nic Cage’s Spider-Noir and John Mulaney’s Spider-Pig are noticeably absent—for now. However, we also get introduced to some fantastic new Spider-People most notably Daniel Kaluuya’s witty anarchist Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk and Issae Rae’s Jess Drew/Spider-Woman. Jason Schwartzman also makes for a throw-away villain that evolves into someone truly formidable with his version of The Spot. Believe me, you label this guy as “the villain of the week” at your peril. Make no mistake though, the standout is Oscar Isaac’s Spider-Man 2099/Miguel O’Hara. As the de facto leader of the Spider-Society, his single-mindedness, and conviction are intimidating, at times terrifying. He’s trying to do good but comes off as severe and utterly humorless. I loved him.
(One note on the humor by the way. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is significantly less comedic than its predecessor. That doesn’t mean it isn’t funny but the overall tone doesn’t allow for a joke-a-minute pace.)
Several critics have referred to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as The Empire Strikes Back of the Spider-Man franchise. I usually hate that kind of hyperbole but in this case, it fits. Not just in terms of tone as this is a darker and thematically heavier film than the first but also in terms of ending. There is a third film set to debut next March (Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse) and Across the Spider-Verse ends on a pretty significant cliffhanger. I’m talking about a “Han has been kidnapped by Boba Fett and Luke lost his hand” type of cliffhanger. It’s powerful and it works but damn it I hate that I have to wait until March 29, 2024, to see how this all resolves.
Regardless, sling into theaters at your earliest possible convenience. Whether you have eight eyes or two, you don’t want to miss this one.
1 God Awful Blind Yourself With Acid Bad
2 Straight Garbage
3 Bad
4 Sub Par
5 Average
6 Ok
7 Good
8 Great
9 Excellent
10 A Must See
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: 10/10
