Practically perfect in every way, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse uses its multiverse-spanning premise to tell a universally relatable story and, much like its predecessor, pushes and redefines the boundaries of the world of animation.
Overall Score: 10/10
Image: Sony Pictures Animation / Sony Pictures Releasing
Many (myself included) consider Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse one of 2018’s best films. I mean, what’s not to love? It features a great story, strong and relatable characters, thought-provoking themes, and dazzling comic book-esque visuals. And on top of that, it won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature! Amazing, right?
“Then how,” you might ask, “do you go about making a sequel that not only matches the original’s level of greatness but also finds ways to surpass it as well?” The answer, of course, is quite simple: You give audiences more of everything.
Let’s start with the plot. While its predecessor featured an already fantastic story involving various Spider-People fighting to save one universe and prevent a multiversal catastrophe, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse goes one step further and tells a tale that spans the entirety of the multiverse. In other words, we’re no longer restricted to a single dimension and we instead spend much of the film visiting multiple unique realities. But that’s not all. There’s also a powerful new threat that’s come into play, and if left unchecked, it could put the fate of the multiverse at stake.
But despite being so action-packed, Across the Spider-Verse never loses sight of its heart, which lies with its rich, grounded, and compelling main characters and the ties they share with their loved ones. Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, the movie’s co-leads, are teenagers on the verge of entering adulthood and trying to navigate and find their way in their respective worlds. They feel — in the same way that typical real-life teens often do — like they’re all alone. And they think there’s no one out there who truly understands them.
And to make matters worse, they both have strained relationships with their parents — a result of constantly having to lie to them about their secret lives as superheroes. This helps ground the film’s story as, at its core, it ends up being about the relationships between parents and their teenage children (ups and downs and all). And like their real-life counterparts, both sides must learn to understand, accept, and love one another unconditionally. It’s all quite compelling and relatable, and I have no doubt that it’ll resonate with you if you’re a parent, a teenager, or even a young adult.
Across the Spider-Verse also deals with freedom and free will. Are we free to make the choices that we want to make? Or do we have to adhere to a set of rules? Who is anyone to tell us what we can and cannot do? And what right do we have to control or limit the freedom of others? This movie puts forward all of these big and important questions, and without spoiling anything, I’ll say that it offers us powerful and thought-provoking answers to each and every one of them.
But here’s where things get interesting. If you look at the film’s exploration of freedom through Miles and Gwen’s perspectives, it becomes an intimate examination of expectations and how we (or, rather, teenagers) deal with them. When you’re growing up, many people — namely, adults — will tell you that you should do things a certain way or push you to study hard to get a particular job because it pays well. Sometimes, these same people will even make it a point to constantly remind you that they want you to become someone like a doctor or a lawyer. And yet, despite these expectations, we have to remain true to ourselves. We can’t let others dictate or decide how we live our lives. No. Like Miles and Gwen, we have to carve out our own paths. We have to do things our way.
Also, like the original, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse pushes beyond the limits of conventional animation and shows us that there’s still so much more that this medium has to offer and that it has plenty of room left to grow. Every single frame featured throughout the movie is filled with vibrant colors and distinct textures. And on top of that, at least six different animation styles are used! Each universe that appears on-screen has a special and unique look, but if I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably have to go with that of Gwen’s world. Here, the film uses watercolors, and what’s cool is that the colors in the background change depending on what mood Gwen is experiencing. This allows for lots of emotion to be conveyed, and ultimately, I think it adds to and enriches some of the movie’s most dramatic moments.
To sum up, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a terrific film that thrills from beginning to end, is beautifully animated, features outstanding vocal performances, and impressively uses a fantastical premise to tell a compelling and universally relatable story. It truly deserves to be called a masterpiece, and hopefully, like its predecessor, it’ll go on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. And hey, since it’s really that good, perhaps, with enough support, it could even receive a nomination for Best Picture. But regardless of what happens, I’ll continue to eagerly await Miles Morales’ next big adventure: Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
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