Year:  2023

Director:  Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

Rated:  PG

Release:  June 1, 2023

Distributor: Sony

Running time: 140 minutes

Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

Cast:
Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Oscar Isaac

Intro:
… while it lacks the economy and precision of the stellar original, it’s still a grand time at the cinema and a new benchmark for visual storytelling in the medium of animation.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse released in 2018 and it was an absolute explosion of colour, creativity and joy. An animated flick that boldly experimented with numerous styles, it felt like an antidote to the superhero fatigue that many cinemagoers were beginning to feel.

Now, in 2023, the long-awaited sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has arrived and it has its work cut out for it. Not only does it need to be as good as, or at the very least within cooee of the superb original, but it also needs to soothe the arguably more malignant form of superhero fatigue we’re all experiencing five years later. After all, in 2018 we had Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther – two of the best – and still we were getting jack of the whole genre.

By unfavourable comparison, this year we’ve had Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and friggen Shazam! Fury of the Gods!

So, is Across the Spider-Verse up to the task? Does it reignite interest in a near-ubiquitous style of cinema? Mostly, with just a couple of niggles…

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse continues the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a precocious young man who is balancing the usual teenage responsibilities of life, school and appeasing his parents with that whole pesky “being Spider-Man” caper. Things take a turn for the worse when Miles runs across what he expects to be his next “villain of the week”, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). However, this goofy, awkwardly-powered demi-nemesis soon proves to be a deadlier foe than expected, as he harnesses the power of the multiverse to potentially catastrophic results. Before too long, Miles must join up with a group of Spider-Folk from other dimensions, including bestie/potential love interest Gwen/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), slacker/mentor Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and intense, vampiric Spider-Man 2099 Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac).

There are two things you should know right from the jump about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. First up, it’s honestly one of the most beautiful-looking animated films ever made. That’s not hyperbole, this is a work of gorgeous visual art that stuns all the way through its slightly bloated runtime, offering innovation and experimentation with jaw-dropping consistency. Second, and less ideally, this is the first part of a two-part film. It ends, obnoxiously, on a cliffhanger. And it feels, particularly through its second act, as if it’s treading water to pad out the runtime to justify the requirement of a second chapter. Now, this isn’t a dealbreaker by any means. Across the Spider-Verse is a huge achievement, particularly in its first hour, featuring great performances from Steinfeld, Isaac and Schwartzman in particular, and delivering too many standout moments to mention. It does, however, lack the elegance of the first film, occasionally confusing length with depth and callbacks with quality.

Still and all, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a big-hearted, spectacularly animated, deftly voiced movie that’s probably the best thing Marvel has done since Spider-Man: No Way Home or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And while it lacks the economy and precision of the stellar original, it’s still a grand time at the cinema and a new benchmark for visual storytelling in the medium of animation.

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