Against a $90 million budget, 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse grossed over $384 million worldwide and received universal critical acclaim. The film earned a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, among other awards. Sony Pictures Animation officially announced a sequel was in production in November 2019, with writers/producers Lord and Miller returning. Directing duties would go to Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, with Amy Pascal as executive producer. In addition to Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, almost all of the original cast returned for the sequel. Sony originally planned for an April 2022 release but was pushed back to October due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. That December, Lord and Miller announced the sequel would be split in two, labeled initially as Part 1 and 2. Finally, the retitled Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swung into theaters in June 2023.
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Synopsis
Sixteen months after the last film, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) struggles with being Spider-Woman and being hunted by the police. While fighting a Renaissance-era villain, she runs into Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae). Gwen hops throw a dimensional portal with them after revealing her identity to her father, Captain Stacy (Shea Whigham). Meanwhile, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is learning to hone his powers while living up to his parent’s expectations. Gwen reunites with Miles one day, but she’s secretly tracking an interdimensional villain called The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). Miles follows her through a dimensional portal and meets the Spider Society, a collection of Spider-People led by Miguel O’Hara. Their mission is to keep the Spider-Verse in working order, but Miles objects when he learns what this entails. What other secrets will be unraveled as Miles Morales tries to untangle this giant web?
Review
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had much to live up to, given how phenomenal the original film was. Thankfully, this sequel lives up to the original as another visually stunning superhero epic with love for the source material. From frame one, the animation is a sight to behold with its vivid colors, changes in style, and surreal imagery. Each universe is given a unique style that helps them stand apart from one another, and they look fantastic. Not only is the animation amazing, but there are tons of great action sequences, each crazier than the last. Thankfully, the action never gets in the way of the storytelling, and they move so fluidly that it’s never distracting. The movie balances out the big action scenes with much smaller, more character-driven scenes, which is not always easy. It helps that the acting is impressive, and the story is riveting.
Like the last film, Shameik Moore does a great job, this time playing an older yet still naive Miles Morales. Hailee Steinfeld similarly delivers an excellent performance as Gwen Stacy and has fantastic chemistry with Moore. Jake Johnson is a welcome return as Peter B. Parker, and Oscar Isaac is sympathetic and intense as Miguel O’Hara. Some other standouts are Jason Schwartzman as The Spot, Karan Soni as the Indian Spider-Man, and Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk. Also, like the last film, this one is a giant love letter to everything Spider-Man, with cameos and references aplenty. Admittedly, some sequences can get too chaotic, and it can sometimes be hard to see what’s happening. Also, at two hours and twenty minutes, the film does feel a bit too long, but it’s still entertaining. Overall, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is another wonderfully animated superhero epic that similar movies should aspire to be.
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