By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
As a sequel to the smash success of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” checks all the necessary boxes to being a terrific follow-up to an incredible first entry. The animation once again is superb, the storyline is compelling and clever, and the flow is continuous and fast. There’s a reason this movie earned over $120 million in its opening weekend.
Taking place a little over a year from the first film, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has grown a bit physically and mentally, becoming more adjusted to his spider powers, but he deeply misses his friends from other universes, especially Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). Gwen is trying to cope with her own loneliness in her universe when she encounters Jessica Drew (Issa Rae) and Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), two Spider-People responsible for protecting the Multi-verse from anomalies, or powered individuals who show up in universes in which they don’t belong. The pair see the potential in Gwen as a Spider-Woman, recruiting her to their elite team.
A new villain emerges by the name of Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who was created out of the mayhem from the first film and has the ability to jump to various universes at will. An opportunity arises for Gwen to return to Miles’ world to help thwart an enemy whose power is only growing, threatening to destroy any universe he may visit. The happiness of the reunion is clouded by the impending danger and an impossible choice Miles must make to save one life he holds dear or the lives of an entire universe. Depending on his choice, he could find friends become enemies, fighting many more foes than just this evil super villain.
Boasting a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is the longest American animated film to date, but its fast pace makes it feel more like 30 minutes. Joaquin Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson direct this epic sequel, all of whom were not involved in directing the first installment. Surprisingly, the continuity is kept intact, and the returning characters retain their three-dimensional layers, which paves the way for this to be one of the greatest superhero sequels ever made. In fact, it’s a formidable challenger to “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3” for best comic book movie of the year.
As with the first movie, the animation is a visually stunning masterpiece. The directors artistically alter the style of animation as the characters teleport to various universes, making both obvious and very subtle adjustments depending on the universe. This makes a complexly orchestrated storyline more palatable to younger/casual viewers to understand what is transpiring without losing the older audience. They take the time to further explore the characters themselves, fostering relationships that enhance the audience’s investment.
The directors even reward both longtime fans of Spider-Man and fans of the MCU with references littered throughout the film that connect all the previous Spider-Man movies, the MCU, and even the Venom movies. Connecting all these films without leaving new viewers in the dark is a stroke of genius. This was so craftily done, that it gives a lifeline to Marvel to fix the holes created in their failed attempts to convey the Multi-verse such as in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
The downside, if you want to call it that, is the film ends rather abruptly with a massive cliffhanger that makes the audience audibly groan. The good news is that the next film, “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” is scheduled for release next year, so audiences don’t have wait another five years as they did for this production.
Voice acting is much more difficult than it sounds, and having the right vocal talents to portray the characters in an animated movie is incredibly important. This film also gets that right with returning cast members like Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jake Johnson who get to further expand the depth of their respective characters. New cast members like Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, and Jason Schwartzman add their own distinct flavor that will have audiences looking forward to more of them in the next film.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is immensely entertaining for all ages and an absolute must-see in the theater. It’s another perfect illustration of what animation can accomplish that live action simply cannot. This is an early favorite to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, which the first film won in 2019.
This movie earns:
