Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse Review

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the highly anticipated sequel to not only the best Spiderman movie ever made, but one of the most groundbreaking superhero films in Spider-Man Into the Spider-verse. The critical and commercial success of the first film led it to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. So, the pressure was on for the sequel to live up to the hype. The sequel picks u

p one year after the events of “Into The Spider-Verse” and follows the journey of Miles Morales as he continues to hone his spider powers and fight against evil forces that threaten the multiverse. Just in case you need a quick refresher on what happened in the previous movie :

Into the Spider-Verse introduces Miles Morales, a teenager from Brooklyn who becomes the new Spider-Man after being bit by a radioactive spider from the Kingpin's lab. When Miles discovers a particle accelerator that opens dimensions, he teams up with alternate versions of Spider-Man from different universes to stop Kingpin and save their respective universes. Together, they embrace their unique powers and learn the importance of self-belief and teamwork. In between all of that, we are also introduced to Mile's family, including the difficult relationship with his Dad, his buddies, Genki, and Spider-Gwen A.K.A Gwen Stacey. Also, a special shout out to Nicholas Cage's performance as Spider Noir!

Across the Spider-Verse is arguably one of the most anticipated sequels in recent film history, which is incredible in of itself especially when viewed from the wider context of Marvel/superhero films where anything other than the usual MCU/avengers characters made it difficult for other stories to build excitement and hype. The Spider-verse film franchise has managed to succeed and remain fresh and exciting in a world that is in many ways experiencing fatigue from the super-hero-dominated landscape. 5 years on from the release of Into the Spider-verse, we finally have the next installment in Mile's journey.

As mentioned earlier, in Into the Spiderverse, the multiverse was broken due to King Pin's particle accelerator, which led to alternate versions of Spiderman to gather in Mile's universe. From that incident, we learned that there are an infinite number of 'Spidey origin stories, including alternative versions of Peter Parker, such as 'Hobo Spider-man'.

Now what exactly is Across the Spider-Verse about? Well, the movie picks up around 1 year after the events of the first film. One day Miles, of Earth-1610, is contacted by Gwen Stacey, who unexpectedly reappears, traveling from her realm of Earth-65 via an interdimensional portal. As Miles is catapulted across the multiverse he encounters the 'Spider-Society', a team of Spidermen that are charged with protecting the fate of the multiverse. The Spider-Society is led by Miguel O'Hara, better known as Spiderman 2099, and as you've probably seen from the trailers, he and Miles don't exactly end up having the Spider-Bromance of the year. Miles finds himself at odds with Miguel over how to handle the threat of a new villain, 'The Spot'. The Spot has abilities that allow him to create portals to other realms of the multiverse. Making him the ideal villain of this story.

One of the main selling points of the latest installment in the Spiderverse franchise was the fact that it would feature this infinite amount of versions of the web-slinger. And boy did we get that. From Peter B Parker, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man India, Spider-Punk, Insomniac's Spiderman, and even that one Spider-Man from that 70s Japanese TV show. Every Spiderman that you can think of is probably featured in this movie in all its glory. I am looking forward to the dozens of videos that are going to come out on all of the spidermen featured in this movie and the Easter eggs sprinkled across. For now though, let's focus on some of the many new Spidermen introduced, starting with Spiderman 2099.

We've known that Spiderman 2099 would play a big role in the sequel from the ending credits of the first film, but I never imagined he would be this Mace Wind-like character who provides this super serious foil compared to the rest of the cast, which plays off well especially when he does interact with the likes of Peter, Miles and the rest of the Spider army. Overall, his addition to the cast is a welcome one but ultimately his story arc does become quite predictable after a while, especially towards the end of the film as his differences with Miles reach it's climax.

Into the Spiderverse's animation used split screens, Ben-Day dots, and onomatopoeic text that mimic the tactile experience of reading physical comics, with panels, hatching, and primary colors intact and ready to leap off the page. Without getting too technical, the animators alternated between animating on twos and on ones depending on the nature of the scene. This allowed them to make characters seem fast or skilled in some shots, and struggle in others. For example, when Miles is swinging through the forest in the first movie, he is animated differently to Peter B. Parker because one is clumsy and other is more skilled. Each character's detailed animation style helped bring out their personality and reflect the different dimensions that the Spider-people came from, yet it all flowed seamlessly together into a single movie, which is a testament to the incredible talent involved in this franchise.

Into the Spider-verse had 177 animators at one point which was the largest crew Sony Pictures Imageworks had ever used for a film. That is until Across the Spider-Verse, which had a crew of over 900 animators who worked tirelessly to create several new literal and figurative dimensions for the movie. They had an army of Marvel comic book designers and some of the original artists to help guide them in translating the very specialized 2D looks into 3D animation. You'll probably hear this a lot in discussions of the film, but literally every frame is a work of art!

This unique animation style was one of the key highlights that made the first movie so unique and other-world compared to others. Across the Spiderverse is similarly a spectacular feast for the eyes with every frame and sequence oozing with style and flare!

In Across the Spider-Verse, the animators had to deal with an army of Spider-Men and Women from parallel dimensions. Not only did they look different, but their style of animation had to be different as well. It's truly incredible how this kaleidoscope of styles beautifully flows together in this movie and sets the bar even higher than Into the Spider-Verse has. We will spend years directing and gushing over the animation of this movie and how it separates it from everything else that is out there.

Sony Pictures Imageworks, the film’s major production studio, developed 17 new tools for The Spot’s Portal-inspired visuals and movements alone. With six unique Spider-Man universes set to be explored in the sequel, plus the seemingly infinite number of Spider-People we’ll see on-screen, Across the Spider-Verse is positively forcing the invention of new animation techniques, styles, and pipelines that’ll inform the industry for decades to come.

Now let’s get to the main spider himself! To be honest, my first contact with the character of Miles Morales wasn’t through the comics but from Into the Spider-Verse. It essentially was my first time experiencing a Spiderman that wasn't Peter Parker, and I am pretty sure I wasn't alone in that. However, despite those initial fears, I absolutely loved the protagonist that I saw in that first movie. Miles's portrayal as this social and outgoing kid from Brooklyn who perfectly represents the artistic and creative world of that part of NYC, was refreshing to see, especially after decades of Peter Parker.

In ATSV, Miles, in true Spiderman fashion, is struggling to balance his life us a teenager and his duties as THE webslinger of this universe. Miles has reached a point where he is somewhat experienced and confident in his abilities, even honing some of the unique powers he has. However, as much as he has the whole Spiderman thing under control, and doesn't need the guidance of Peter anymore, he worries about his future, which even causes him to fight with his parents over college courses. This time around, we also experience the story from Gwen's perspective and the trials and tribulations she faces in her world, which doesn't just make her another supporting character but a fresh perspective on the themes that the story tries to introduce. Other characters such as Jessica Drew and Spider-Punk were positively surprising show-stealers for me!

Getting into the underlying theme and message of the story, similarly to the previous film, Across the Spider-Verse explores the struggle of discovering one's identity, particularly in the teenage years. In Miles's case, he wants to have his own identity as a person, different from what his father wants for him, and this struggle is something that most people can relate to. Spiderman is one of most relatable superheroes in fiction, and Across the Spiderverse continues to follow that ideology with Miles, however, it goes even further beyond in this movie by asking the question “How do you wear the mask?” All of the different versions of Spider-Man that we encounter share a similar pain and grief that has shaped them and their worlds differently.

I feel like every other year now we get a multiverse-filled movie, whether that is Everything Everywhere All at Once, No Way Home, or the Avengers movies, this comic book concept of other dimensions and parrel worlds has cemented itself in the current pop-culture zeitgeist which raises the bar for this movie, however Across the spider verse has once again raised the bar in that sub-genre of cinema.

Spiderman-Across the Spiderverse is the next evolution in the Spider-Verse franchise, swinging the series even further and higher than its predecessors has. From the animation, the jokes, the references, and the infinite number of spider people, this is superhero film-making at a masterful level that remains true to the essence of the characters and the wonder and awe of experiencing the world of comic books! Even though casual Spider and comic book fans might feel overwhelmed by the constant references and jokes, you still can't help but feel that you just witnessed an incredible cinematic achievement, but more importantly, the ultimate Spiderman experience.