Film Review — Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

A frenetic, visually breathtaking animated sequel that equals its predecessor by caring about the characters as much as the spectacle.

When Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse blasted onto our screens in 2018, it stretched the boundaries of mainstream cinema in terms of animation, metatextual send-up, and what was narratively possible in a superhero film with its bold multiverse plot. Since then, other multiverse movies have cluttered our screens, to the point where their ubiquity is becoming a little tiresome. For instance, unlike many, I found the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once an interminable epileptic seizure of a film. Would I have a similar reaction to the Into the Spider-verse sequel?

I’m thrilled to say the answer is an emphatic no. I need to see it a few more times before passing final judgement, but on initial viewing, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse proves every bit as captivating as its predecessor. On a purely visual level, this further pushes the envelope, presenting a frenetic, kaleidoscopic, eye-popping spectacle of cinematic art that crams every square millimetre of widescreen space with vibrant comic book imagery.

Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K Thompson have their hands full overseeing the switches between universes, rendering a breathtaking array of styles. Evocations of Jamie Reid and Jamie Hewlitt-esque punk art, 1970s Indian comics, Stanley Donwood-style monochrome scribbles, Syd Mead-ish futurism, manga moments, watercolours, and half-toning merely scratch the surface of what is on offer here. As before, comic panels appear, with judiciously deployed, frequently witty caption boxes, and the sense of Spider-Man’s dynamic movement is as perfectly captured as it is in the comics. Some of the more surreal visuals accompanying the narrative left turns are too good to spoil, suffice it to say, this film is an opulent blast from start to finish.

As for the plot, writers Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Dave Callaham maintain the high standard set by the first, serving up a multi-layered tale that in lesser hands would have collapsed like a house of cards. The reason the film works is that it never forgets that for all its relentless energy and spoofy humour, it needs to work as a great story first and foremost, with characters the audience genuinely care about. As such, this opens with Gwen Stacey aka Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) in her universe, filling in the viewer on her tragic backstory with poignant aplomb. That alone won me over, but then we get Miles Morales aka Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) in his universe, and an involving plot thread exploring the ongoing challenges of juggling Spider-Man duties and schoolwork, whilst keeping his superhero identity a secret from his exasperated parents.

From there, the plot develops with plenty of bombastic and bizarre action, as Miles fights a villain called The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). Although he seems like a rather ridiculous, inexperienced antagonist, The Spot is incensed with Miles’s dismissal of him as a “villain of the week”. Since his hatred for Spider-Man is deeply personal, he’s determined to get respect as a bigger threat and is prepared to go to dangerous lengths to do so. At the same time, an interdimensional organisation of elite Spider-people from many universes, headed by a Spider-Man with no sense of humour Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), has developed a mysterious interest in Miles. The spider that bit him in the previous film becomes a key and unexpected plot point.

Romantic chemistry between Gwen and Miles continues to simmer, building nicely in this instalment, but again, nothing is that straightforward. Twists and turns ensue, some of them genuinely clever and unexpected. That’s about as much as I want to say about the plot as it is best experienced for oneself.

Vocal performances are all strong, including returning supporting characters such as the grown-up Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), who now has a baby daughter in tow. Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez are also back to good effect as Miles’s parents. In addition, new cast members Karan Soni, Issa Rae, and Daniel Kaluuya deserve a special mention, as Indian, pregnant motorbike-riding, and British punk rock incarnations of the web-slinger, respectively.

The musical choices — from pop songs to Daniel Pemberton’s scoring — are deftly deployed. Despite the cliffhanger ending (the third film, Beyond the Spider-Verse, is out next year), one walks away from this feeling anything but short-changed. I suppose one could argue it’s slightly on the overlong side, but if the film does engage in self-indulgence at times, it is glorious self-indulgence. Amid all the mayhem and comedy, this film has heart to spare, and bittersweet, moving things to say about parenting, growing up, and identity.

I look forward to being assailed with more of this anarchic, playful brilliance in the next instalment. In the meantime, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a film that will lose much on television, so do make the effort to see it in the cinema, on the biggest screen you can find.

(Originally published at Simon Dillon Books.)

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