Movie Review # 611: Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (2023)

Well, everyone, sorry that it took a while for me to finally see the following film that I will be reviewing here shortly. But hey, better late than never, right? Anyway, today, we are going to be reviewing the newest animated film from Columbia Pictures, and Sony Pictures Animation. It is the sequel to the 2018 animated film, Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse. With that said, let’s talk about it’s new sequel, Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse.

Plot: Sixteen months after the events of Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) goes back to Miles Morales/Spider-Man’s (Shameik Moore) universe following them both discovering The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a villain who’s been creating chaos following the events of the first film. With the help of both old, and new friends in the alternate universes, will Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman be able to track down The Spot, and put an end to his plans once, and for all?

So, although Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse was a very good film, for the most part, that one seemed to be more in the lower A grade range. Was Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse any better? Well, I’m here to tell you that, yes, it was. Again, not quite perfect, but still a little more of an improvement from the previous film. First of all, the animation seemed to feel a little more upgraded this time around. Yes, the animation was still more of a comic book style type of animation like in the first film. Even so, the movements of the character, and objects seemed to flow more smoothly. Oh, and the backgrounds seemed to feel more lively this time around as well. Another element that makes the animation even better is that there are times when the animation can be very symbolic for a number of reasons. Oh, and one more thing that was great about the animation. The facial expressions were top notch, and made the animation all the more great as well. Next, there are the characters. Okay, unlike with the first film, where the character development seemed to feel a little more hit, and miss, nearly every one of them is much better developed this time around. Even the villain, well known as The Spot, was a very big improvement from Kingpin in the last film. While his actions are inexcusable, you still have an understanding of his motivations for his actions nevertheless. Yes, that was sort of the case for Kingpin as well. Still, the difference is that The Spot’s motivations are more understandable, and don’t seem to feel somewhat lame like Kingpin’s seemed to. Honestly, he, and Vulture, despite the latter only having a smaller amount of screen time, we’re both huge improvements from Kingpin. Both of them also had some comedic moments as well, especially The Spot. So there you have it at least with the villains. Also, going on development for other characters, because there weren’t quite as many of those to focus in on like with Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, more characters got fleshed out, and more time to shine as a result. Then, there’s the score by Daniel Pemberton. If you liked his score for the first film, chances are you’ll probably like his score for this second installment. I mean from the rock guitar in some scenes, particularly the action sequences, to the more calm, and peaceful moments, his soundtrack doesn’t disappoint. I wouldn’t be surprised if sooner rather than later, people like myself would decide to get the soundtrack for this film. Yes, believe it, or not, it’s that good. Now, about the storyline. As many of you may know, this Spider-Man film was around two and a half hours long. Very atypical for an animated film, is it not? Now, for the million dollar question, did this Spider-Man film need to be that long? Well, let me put it to you all this way. It is possible that maybe this film might have dragged in one, or two spots? Sure! Besides that, yes, it needed to be almost, if not quite, as long as it was in the end. The surprisingly long run time served as a great benefit. Like what, you may ask? Well, there was the whole deal with all the characters each getting to have their moments to shine, first of all. Second, it helped with the whole world building of the Spiderverse. Well, not just the Spiderverse, but the regular world as well. Honestly had this film not been as long as it was, it’s hard to say whether or not we would have gotten to know more of the Spiderverse more, gotten to know certain characters as well as we did, or had the chance to breathe in, and explore the Spiderverse, and more. Plus, even when it came to some of the action scenes, this film did a very great job with some of those moments being emotional, and getting characters well developed even then. Okay, not to say that something like that hasn’t happened in past films. Still, the way certain scenes, be it action scenes, or just regular ones, are handled is almost, if not quite perfection at it’s best. Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse also has some very good comedy. I was surprised to find how much comedy ended up being in this sequel in the end. Truly, even if there weren’t as many comedic moments in this film as in many films from Marvel, it doesn’t downgrade this movie. Yes, comedy is good. Still, one should know when to insert comedy, and let the serious moments run their course. Without a doubt, this movie did a great job of that. For what comedy there was in this film, it was most definitely genius. There were even some characters that had some of the best lines in this film, most notably from Miles’ mother, Rio Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Peter Parker, that helped make both this film, and those individual characters, and the others, more memorable. There are also some really valuable lessons to take away from this film such as not letting things like bitterness get the best of you, being willing to do what’s right no matter what, listening to your conscience, and/or gut, being careful about who to listen to, or not listen to, especially when the latter group may be misguided, and quite a few other lessons as well. One last thing to mention is that the ending is most likely going to be a shock, and a surprise to many. I won’t say what happens at the very end. However, let’s just say that you’ll find yourself eager for the next part, however soon it comes out.

And that’s my review for Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse. It is a really fun film with plenty of heart, more memorable characters, a more memorable story, even if you feel left on the edge of your seat more this time around, and a really, really fantastic world building. Honestly, I can see why the filmmakers made it as long as they did in the end. Do I see the sequel being just as long, if not longer. Well, we shall see come hopefully a few years from now, if not sooner. Regardless, make a point to see Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse. If you liked Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, you’ll most likely enjoy Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse even more so. Oh, and did I forget to mention that this is one of those movies that truly NEEDS to be experienced in the movie theater? That being said, go see it, and see what you think!

Final Grade: A+