Sony Swings Across The Spider-Verse Even Higher Than The Near Perfect Original

It’s rare that a sequel is better than the movie that preceded it. The Empire Strikes Back is one of those rare examples. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is another. That feat is even more impressive when you consider that the Oscar-winning predecessor Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was so good it changed the way people view animated movies in general, and superhero movies specifically.

If you don’t want to read further into this spoiler-free review, then here’s the short take: Go watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as soon as you can, so you can be a part of the conversation that will blow up about this movie, before you get blindsided by the inevitable spoilers. That said, the spoiler-free review starts in earnest below the break.

It’s tough to improve on one of the most inventive animated pieces of entertainment ever made, and yet this movie does so. While Into the Spider-Verse was groundbreaking for its use of different types of animation to define characters and settings, Across the Spider-Verse does all of that, and dares to change animation mid-scene to help set tone and mood as much as the amazing music does once again.

Everything, not just the animation, is dialed up in this sequel. The jokes are funnier and more widespread among the characters. Into relied mostly on Spider-Ham for the funny, but Across puts the humor into the hands of many more voice actors. Which isn’t to say it does that to the detriment of the drama. The dramatic tension is also kicked up a notch or three. The stakes in the first movie were mostly personal to Miles, and in the sequel those personal stakes become even more dire, while adding stakes that are world-ending in scope.

The voice cast is outstanding once again. Returning voice actors such as Shameik Moore as Miles, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen, Brian Tyree Henry as Miles’ dad and Luna Laura Velez as his mom are even better than they were in the first movie. Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara is wonderful, as one would expect. And I hate to mention any of the other new voice cast members, just because the names might spoil their characters’ surprise appearances in this movie.

Boy, are there surprises. It would make sense that a movie based on the idea of a collection of multiverse-hopping Spider-Mans would have lots of surprise cameos and Easter eggs. But the sheer number of them is only surpassed by how well they are woven into the story. Some of these surprises are moments that will make you cheer, and some are brutal gut punches.

Is the script, written again by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller — now with the addition of Dave Callaham — emotionally manipulative as all get out? Hell, yes. Is that a problem? Hell, no. If this were in the hands of a clumsier team, sure, it might even be cringe-inducing how much Across the Spider-Verse plays on your emotions. But this team seems to know exactly how to ride that line between too much and not quite enough — in every aspect of the movie.

I only have two minor complaints about the movie. The first is that, while Jason Schwartzman is excellent as the villain Spot, and the script manages to both acknowledge how silly he is as a villain and make him into a truly menacing threat, he gets sort of sidelined into nothing more than a plot driver. I hesitate to even mention the other tiny complaint I had about the movie, because I forgot about it and that made it a surprise to me — but the fact that it is the first of a duology made me literally sit up in my seat at the end and stifle a “What the Hell?!” I can’t wait until next year and part two.

I give Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; PG; 2hrs 20mins) a 9.5 out of 10.

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