In my original review for Into the Spider-Verse (the first of this now-planned trilogy), I reflected on how much an animated Spider-Man film from Sony shouldn't have worked, especially given the height of the popularity for our MCU counterpart and Sony's other "duds" in this character's sphere. As is old news to most of us by now, it worked spectacularly, even winning the "Best Animated Picture" Oscar and, more importantly, winning the "Funniest Film", "Best Animated Film", #3 Best Film from Reader Votes, and #5 Best Film from yours truly in the 2018 Rath Awards (it cleaned up!).
Given the critical and commercial success, sequels were obvious, which was concerning for all the reasons sequels usually can be. Thankfully, with Across the Spider-Verse, every single element has risen to the occasion, and - seemingly out of nowhere - we're now going to be talking about this trilogy, pending the final film in 2024, as one of the very best comic-book/superhero trilogies of all time.
Yes, it's that good.
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| The action/animation for Spot is furiously fast |
And when I say that, I legitimately mean that every single aspect has improved. The story, the voice acting, the music, the animation, the humor, the action...all of it. I adored the first film, but I felt as if I could have watched Across the Spider-Verse for another 2 hours. Personally, out of the elements I just mentioned, it was the story and overall plot that has elevated the most. Not only does Across the Spider-Verse make the first film's story better in very subtle ways, it genuinely creates an epic, high-stakes plot that rivals in scope to some of the MCU's biggest. It's consistently exciting, yes, but it's also got a very human heart at its core. Strangely, some of its most quiet moments - like Miles talking with his mom after being grounded - feel like some of its biggest...ones that we'll look back on in future years. This impressively extends past just Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) too. We have a much better understanding of Gwen's (Hailee Steinfeld) story, as well as Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Issac). There's a lot of ground to cover throughout and Across the Spider-Verse balances it with ease, never letting up on the gas or humor.
Much like the first, Across the Spider-Verse is funny as hell too. The jokes don't come at a mile a minute, but they're used smartly, and I can't think of a single one that didn't land with me or my audience. A handful of them are side-splittingly funny, many of which I can't reference here because it would be spoiler-ish. Similarly, the action remains stupendous! I suppose mileage will vary because it's animated action (side bar: if you're an adult who thinks they can't enjoy "cartoons", get over it!) but I found the action beats even better this time; strangely almost feeling like they were ever-so-slightly less chaotic and better edited to where I had an easier time understanding what was going on.
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| One has to feel like this is going to age to be an all-time classic scene, even if it's one of the quieter moments |
And of course...the animation. Into the Spider-Verse was a game changer on par with the first time Pixar ever booted up Toy Story. It was a comic-book come to life and had fun with a handful of animation styles as they pertained to other Spider-people. In Across the Spider-Verse a handful becomes a full-on single-trip-with-8-bags-in-each-arm grocery haul of animation styles. Again, to avoid spoilers, I won't speak to many of them, but suffice it to say that this film is a work of art. Even Gwen's world, which isn't much different than Miles', subtly plays with hues of a wide array of colors in gorgeous, effective ways. And once the film is in action, many times with multiple animation styles on screen at once, it sings and is impossible to tear your eyes from.
Also worth praise (because pretty much everything is in this film) are the voice actors and actresses as well as the music. Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld have leveled up, which is astounding considering how good they were in the first film, and these characters feel real; they jump off the screen. Similarly, new additions like Oscar Issac, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, and many others maintain the high quality, while returning stars like Brian Tyree Henry and Jake Johnson (among others) also bring their A-game back. They're working with a great script, but also providing genuine heart, emotion, and performance into their voices. And the underlying complimentary music, both original score and soundtrack, does what music does best: elevates the material.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a triumph and somehow a step above its predecessor. With a well-executed cliffhanger ending that will lead into Beyond the Spider-Verse, it acts perfectly as an incredibly engaging and thoughtful next chapter in this story while stoking the hype for the end of this trilogy, that will likely go down in history with a lot of "Best"s next to its name. And to think that really...none of this should have worked as well as it did.
CONS
- I still have a small nitpick about Miles' world's animation style where the foreground and background focus seems off/blurry
- Final 10 minutes is a bit choppy in terms of back-and-forth between characters
- I wish certain sections of the original score were as good as its high-points
- Where to start? Nearly everything feels "better" with this sequel
- The animation styles are numerous, frequently jaw-dropping, and when there are multiple on screen, it's a piece of art
- The plot, story, and writing is fantastic. It ties back to the first film in smart ways, and creates an epic scope with a heartfelt center that makes it about as compelling as you can with a superhero film
- A surgical level of precision with the jokes. This isn't a joke-a-minute comedy, but rather very well-timed and executed jokes that always land
- Fantastical action that swings high and hits hard, often chaotic (in a good way) in nature
- Top-tier voice work from the entire cast with Moore and Steinfeld being the MVPs
- Epic original score with a pitch-perfect complimentary soundtrack and the film makes great use of both
- Fun easter eggs and fan-service without going overboard
- Ending is a cliffhanger, but well executed and builds excitement for the trilogy's end
Rath's Review Score |
10/10 - Instant Classic
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