Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

My Take – Released in 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was undoubtedly a milestone for animation features and the superhero genre. Not only did Sony manage to deliver a thrilling, ingenious, inventive, highly original, and entertaining animated film, they managed to create something that acted as a massive celebration for Spider-Man fans across the globe.

And while one might have believed that it would be impossible to hit lightning once again, the entirely new lineup of directors, Kemp Powers (Soul), Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson, and co-writers David Callaham and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who both once again produce) somehow manage to take everything from the Oscar-winning predecessor and dial it up to a 100, offering not just one ground-breaking animation style but a whole host of them to entertain us.

The resulting film is yet another revolutionary, jaw-dropping, and eye-popping splash page of excellence that works well as a deeper more mature and complex sequel. Every frame is richly layered and the attention to detail is absolutely incredible. The story is phenomenal, the characters are believable and have excellent levels of depth, and the soundtrack is once again fantastic. This is easily, without a shadow of a doubt, the film of the year!

It has so much to digest with multiple stories and visual artistry that it’s impossible to assimilate everything in one viewing. But most importantly, the Easter eggs and surprises never come at the cost of the overall plot or by pandering to fans. While setting up an essential third outing, this sequel immerses us in a far deeper and more layered story that promises to be rewarding.

Taking a place over a year after the events of the last film, the story begins with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), who is still dealing with the loss of her best friend, Peter Parker (voiced by Jack Quaid) who died after transforming into the Lizard, and is forced to face her overbearing police chief father, Captain Stacy (voiced by Shea Whigham), who is hell bent on bringing Spider-Woman to justice for Parker’s presumed murder.

Finally, choosing to join the Spider-Society, an elite team of Spider-Men who serve as a sort of multiverse police, led by the angry, militant, and humorless Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (voiced by Oscar Isaac) and his lieutenant Spider-Woman (voiced by Issa Rae), when she encounters a version of the Vulture (voiced by Jorma Taccone) from an Italian Renaissance-themed alternate universe.

Meanwhile, the 16-year-old Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) has been excelling as the Spider-Man of his world, while struggling in dealing with his worrisome parents, Jefferson Davis (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio Morales (voiced by Luna Lauren Vélez). However, when a new inter-dimensional villain called The Spot (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) arrives on the scene, with a strange connection to Miles, he’s finds himself yanked once again into another multiverse adventure.

The film takes the multiverse concept and pushes it to a place unprecedented with other films of its ilk. Chasing The Spot becomes a universe-hopping experience, and along the way, they collect and add to their team, including Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India (voiced by Karan Soni), Spider-Punk (voiced by Daniel Kaluuya), Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider (voiced by Andy Samberg) and some familiar faces like Peter B. Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson).

Yes, it’s densely plotted, almost overwhelming at times and Daniel Pemberton’s score is a staircase of anxiety, but like its predecessor, the film uses the audience’s familiarity with Spider-Man as a consistent source of humor. But it also enlists those Spider-tropes to help chart its course through a frenetic, multiverse-jumping story that elevates its scale and ambition in myriad ways. Suffice it to say, the film next-level ups its game, especially in the animation department.

But the soul of the film lies in the tiny human details. It deals with basic themes of the first film like adolescent isolation, communication breakdown, the messy, stressful business of growing, of finding your people – and builds whole worlds with them.

It’s a dizzying onslaught of ideas and graphic references. It also brings in several poignant themes about the crucible that all Spider-People have to endure: horribly personal and tragic events that forever change who they are, define them, and transform them into the always-emotionally-burdened hero we know today.

Not unlike another recent film, the film is, at its core, about a hero finding himself in a world that doesn’t seem made for him. That hero’s journey of self-discovery takes him to the edges of worlds beyond imagination, right to the cliff-hanging ending of this film, and what he finds there are the human vulnerabilities that allow us to be heroes. It’s a beautiful story, any way you look at it.

On a technical level, the film is a wonder. The visuals have got to be seen to be believed. Every scene has so much going on, and you could even say each scene has its own art style. It goes way beyond what the first film did, and that was already crazy. The blending of styles on its own makes this a one of a kind film that will be hard to replicate.

Each Spider-Person has its distinct visual style, extending into the universe they hail from. Embracing the comic-book style even harder this time, there’s an astonishing amount of detail in each frame and character design that sometimes gets overwhelming to absorb, but in the best way possible. Not enough can be said about those dazzling visuals other than the film is probably winning the Best Animated Oscar again, just based on how cutting-edge it is and how their style continues to break ground.

Voice performance wise, Shameik Moore continues to be the quintessential Miles, and it almost feels like audiences never left him in the first place. Gwen Stacy’s well-deserved backstory is given much depth through Hailee Steinfeld’s work. Oscar Isaac’s militant take on Miguel O’Hara brings a level of darkness not often seen in mainstream animation. Jason Schwartzman elevates Spot to well above villain of the week status with hilarity and intrigue.

Jake Johnson returns to do what he did best in the last film. Daniel Kaluuya stands out as the self-assured and anti-authoritarian Spider-Punk. Karan Soni and Andy Samberg deserve more attention in the next. In supporting turns, Issa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, and Shea Whigham bring committed and engaged performances. On the whole, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is a spectacular, dizzying and dazzling sequel which raises the bar for the genre once more.