Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin Thompson, is a remarkable achievement in animation filmmaking that succeeds in being both hilarious and thrilling with its breathtaking action-packed sequences without sacrificing any of the film’s emotional resonance. A follow-up to the highly appreciated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), this film continues the Spider-verse and expands in scale and vision, where the stakes are higher than ever, resulting in a stunning spectacle.
The sequel picks up sixteen months after the original film, with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) now the sole Spider-Man of Earth-1610. He is learning to adapt to his new life as a superhero while struggling to meet his parents’ expectations. On the day of his school evaluation with his parents, Miles encounters the film’s main villain, Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a former scientist at Alchemax who wants revenge against Miles for the damage he did to him in the collider explosion in the first film, which resulted in his body getting infused with portals. On the other hand, Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), the Spider-Woman of Earth 65, is still mourning the loss of her universe’s Peter Parker and struggling to keep her identity secret from her father, harming her relationship with him. One night, while fighting a Renaissance-themed vulture from the parallel universe, she is joined by Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099, played by Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew (an African American Spider-Woman, played by Issa Rae), who arrive via the portal to defeat the creature. Gwen discovers they are part of “Spider Society,” a network of Spider-People from different universes motivated to safeguard the multiverse and keep it free of anomalies. After falling out with her father, Gwen joins the Spider Society and is tasked with monitoring Spot’s activities in Miles’ universe. Spot is growing in power and becoming increasingly dangerous after learning that his portals can open different universes, which can have potentially catastrophic results. As a result, when Miles stumbles into Gwen’s mission, he causes an anomaly that is not only bad for the multiverse, but he is also at risk of suffering a personal loss.
Even though the film’s runtime clocks in at 140 minutes (making it the longest American animated movie of all time), it proceeds at a breakneck speed, and the screenplay never bogs down. The film has at least a couple of absolutely jaw-dropping action sequences. The first one involves Miles teaming up with Gwen, Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), and Hobie (Daniel Kaluuya), a Spider-Punk who has the appearance of a scrapbook, as they travel to Mumbattan to prevent Spot from absorbing the power of the Alchemax collider, which would make him more powerful. The most striking feature of the scene is the creative art design, which combines Mumbai and Manhattan. As a result, when Spot absorbs the collider’s power, and the city begins to crumble, Miles and the team must race against the clock to save the residents of the congested metropolis, which has many tall structures squeezed into small areas, making the scene urgent and riveting to watch. The second action scene is set in Nueva York, the headquarters of Spider-Society, as Miles tries to escape to his universe but is chased by hundreds of Spider-People. Apart from the action choreography, what distinguishes this sequence is Miles’ tenacity and resolve to reach his parents. He fights and eludes everyone against all odds, upping the ante and increasing the scene’s dramatic impact.
More than anything else, this film shines a light on the complicated parent-child dynamic and explores themes like parenthood, adulthood, and moving on in life. Both Gwen and Miles are striving to meet their parents’ expectations. They are coming-of-age kids who carry far more weight than their shoulders can bare, and it is difficult for them to explain this to their parents. The film also portrays Miles’ parents’ challenges with parenting a child, as they struggle with questions like how much independence to give their son, how to set appropriate boundaries for him, and how to communicate with him.
Even with so much happening on the screen all the time, the makers do not lose track of the characters, as each one of them is well-defined, distinct, and sketched out to the last detail, whether it is the humorless Miguel O’Hara, who is the leader of Spider-Society, or the highly political Hobie, whose universe is a totalitarian regime. The screenplay also contains at least a couple of twists that will surprise and intrigue you. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has a perfect dosage of action, emotion, and comedy, plus a killer soundtrack and visionary animation, all presented in dazzling colors and a painterly aesthetic that will make you want to watch all the superhero movies this way.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie links: IMDB
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