Hello Ladies, Gentlemen and those of a non-binary nature, my name is Daibhi, this is Gamerhub and this is my spoiler-free review of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
Across the WHAT?!
Multiverses- the idea that there are similar but intrinsically different versions of realities like our own are all the rage at the moment. From the sadly-deceased DC Flarrowverse on the CW doing their version of the legendary Crisis On Infinite Earths back in 2020, to this film’s predecessor, to the second Doctor Strange film, to this, the multiverse concept is in vogue. It’s a way for us to look at characters in a different light and show us that Super-powered alter-egos could apply to just about everyone, not merely white men in spandex. This film deals with a Spider-Man who’s half Latinx and half African-American called Miles Morales. A somewhat controversial character when he was created and debuted in Marvel Comics in 2012, he became something of a fan-favourite following the release of the previous movie in the franchise called Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
No Spoilers
In the previous film, Miles learns how to be Spider-Man when bitten by a radioactive spider that also bit Peter Parker. Another Peter Parker, as well as variants from other universes help him learn how to become the Spider-Man of his universe, whilst fending off his reality from a female version of Doctor Octopus, and a Kingpin hell-bent on getting his family back, even if that means breaking the walls of reality to do it. This film, without getting into spoiler territory, brings back a couple of the alternate versions (as well as a lot of others) and simply ups the ante, giving us a rollercoaster ride of a story, jam-packed with drama, humour and pathos.
The Good
The animation style for the last film should have won an Oscar, but didn’t. I suspect Marvel fans will riot if this one doesn’t win an Oscar for Best Animated Full-Length Feature Film. The art styles (because every universe has it’s own unique art style) are even more varied than last time, with more time spent in multiple realities to boot. The villain in this movie is also brilliant, and takes a one-time comedy villain and makes him one of the most important villains in comic books. It’s hard to keep a villain under lock and key when he can literally create a portal to a different universe and simply jump through it. There’s also a lot of pathos when you discovered how he got his powers, and honestly, just like Kingpin last time around, he’s actually a somewhat sympathetic villain.
The range of Spider-People in this movie is also incredibly impressive. From a certain Scarlet Spider, to Nic Cage reprising his role from the last movie, to a Spider-man from the future (voiced by Oscar Isaacs) that is genuinely terrifying. Sadly, my favourite alternate Spider-Man who was in the first film isn’t in this one, but there are multiple variants that are flat-out hilarious. Keep your eyes open for Peter Purrker, the Spectacular Spider-Cat. He’s both cute, hilarious and terrifying simultaneously.
The Bad
This film took so long to make, but to be fair to Sony Entertainment, they made this movie and the sequel (Beyond The Spider-Verse) simultaneously. There is a downside to this though: The movie leaves us on a cliffhanger and it feels like they may have stretched one movie into two from a story-writing perspective. I get why, when the first movie made a heck of a lot of money at the box office, but I can’t help but feel a little cheated by it.
Speaking of storywriting, multiple scenes in this film feel unnecessary. Repeated conversations between Miles and his mother, a returning Spider-Man variant and Miles happen to create more drama, and to be honest, the film could have easily cut 15 minutes out by only showing one of these conversations and it would have still been an awesome film. I guess this is the problem with films made to tie into a film franchise, but it just feels like an extra bit of a cash grab.
Should I go see this film?
Yes. Maybe not as an emphatic yes as the first time around, but it’s still head-and-shoulders above what I was expecting from this film. The character work is seriously impressive, even more so when you consider that this is an ensemble piece, and there are a lot of characters to juggle around. The artwork and animation in this film is very good, and I loved watching it. For a Saturday afternoon, it really was a great film. The fact that I was surrounded by extremely noisy children whilst watching this didn’t bother me, as a lot of the film’s style is about showing us the plot as well as letting us know through the audio.
For the Gamerhub, I’ve been Daibhi and you are legends.
