Across the Spiderverse

It is pretty universally agreed upon that Into the Spiderverse is the best Spiderman movie to date, even by the academy. So fans, including myself, were more than eager for the second installment of the franchise. In fact these movies are the only thing keeping fans rooting for Sony keeping the film rights to the famous character. I can definitely say after seeing Across the Spiderverse that I hope Sony never relinquishes their right to these characters because Disney could never create something as heartfelt and beautiful as what I just watched.

Let's start with how incredibly well this story was written. The balance of characters was absolutely incredible. We got so much growth and range for Gwen while maintaining that this was still very much Miles’ story. The way that they wrote and conveyed the feeling of isolation and loneliness that each spider-person feels does more than any superhero story has ever done. It wasn’t simply a “no one understands me” kind of message, it was more like “even though there are others like me only some of them understand me as a person and not just as a superhero”. The depth that this writing hit on gives me hope for all superhero movies. There is so much more to explore here than just what it’s like to have sudden responsibility.

I also want to talk about how much I love Miles’ parents. He is literally one of the only heroes with both parents and they are both incredible, sweet, caring and involved parents and we love to see it. This also does a great job of reminding the audience of how young Miles is. Making the audience care about his parents also makes us feel Miles’ pain and struggle when the main conflict of the story is finally revealed.

There are certain things that make Spiderman, Spiderman. He is bitten by a radioactive spider and suddenly gets superpowers. Uncle Ben dies and gives him the courage and strength to accept his responsibility. A police captain close to Spiderman dies. These are things that happen every time, in every universe that help make Spiderman who he is. Also I would just like to say that this part of the movie was incredible, they used actual comic book panels and scenes from past Spiderman movies and it was beautifully done. These are called cannon events and they cannot be disrupted or that world gets destroyed. Miles’ dad is about to be sworn in as captain. And now we see Miles struggle with destiny vs love and responsibility. Isn’t Spiderman supposed to at least try and save everyone? How can a hero knowingly let someone die? Is the idea of serving the greater good really enough to outweigh a single life? Does that idea change when the single life in question is someone you personally care about? These are all questions that are raised in this film and the next part of this movie will hopefully answer them.

The last thing I really need to mention is the art. The animation in this film is so astoundingly beautiful. There are countless art styles used because every Spiderman from every universe has their own and for the animators to tackle that and execute it successfully is incredible. This film was an artistic and technical feat that alone should win it the Oscar for animation. I can’t imagine another film coming out this year that even remotely comes close to the masterpiece I just watched.

Overall the movie is stunning, emotional and incredible. It earns the first 10/10 of the year, and perhaps the only one. Everything about this movie was well thought out and developed and even though it ends on a cliffhanger it tells a remarkable story that draws the audience in and forces us to care about all of these characters. There is a villain as well as an antagonist that really helps flesh out the story as well as Miles’ character. And also shows us that good and evil isn’t so black and white. This movie starts to deal with the gray area of morality and I can not wait to see where the next one goes.