Back in 2018, comic book movie fans were blessed with three greats: Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and, in my opinion the best of the three, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Into the Spider-Verse was everything one could hope for in a Spidey film—great heart, a wonderful story, great action, tons of Easter eggs—but it was also so much more. What Into the Spider-Verse achieved was nothing short of a visually beautiful masterpiece of storytelling. It was the best comic book film of 2018, it was the best animated film of 2018, it was the best movie of 2018 (the only reason it didn’t get a Best Picture nomination was because of the Academy’s bias against the animated medium), and it instantly made its way into my top 10 favorite films of all-time. So, my excitement for the sequel was ridiculously high (I may or may not have cried from excitement when I read the early reactions) and I went into my IMAX showing with insane expectations. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse meets and exceeds every expectation I had for it and, somehow, manages to surpass the original film in almost every conceivable way.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) picks up a year after after the events of the original film. Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), of Earth-65 and our heroine from Into the Spider-Verse, is back in her universe and is missing the only close friend she had after her universe’s Peter Parker died, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore). After an encounter with alternate-universe’s Vulture leads her to face the judgement of her father and meet Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 (voiced by Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman (voiced by Issa Rae), Gwen escapes her universe to join the Spider-Society. Meanwhile, Miles is back on Earth-1610 juggling the responsibilities of being Spider-Man, being a high school student, and making his parents proud. When a new villain known as The Spot (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) begins to search for revenge on Miles, Morales must team up with Gwen and several of her Spider-Society friends on a multiversal journey to stop him before he causes every universe with a Spider-Man to collapse.

First and foremost, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a pure work of art. Every frame of the film was beautifully and meticulously crafted with care. Utilizing six different animation styles and even more artistic styles, Across the Spider-Verse captures pure love and creativity from beginning to end. You could randomly pause the movie at any point and you would want to frame it on the wall, and I wouldn’t be surprised if an art or film museum decided to put up frames of the movie for an exhibit. From the water-color inspired art of Gwen’s universe, to stop-motion, to the inventive art style of the original film, to collage pop-art, this film is not only a celebration of Spider-Man, comic book movies, and animation, it is a love letter to art itself.

What made the 2018 film so endearing to audiences was how it was able to capture deep and emotional storytelling and character moments within both its medium and genre. This film takes every emotional beat and every character moment from the original and goes even further: this film’s long runtime is because the film makers took the time to allow these incredible characters to breathe. The moments between Miles and his parents (voiced by Luna Lauren Velez and Brian Tyree Henry), Gwen and her father (voiced by Shea Whigham), and the character interactions between all of the Spider-People feel so resonate and well-earned. Combine this with the film’s epic-sized story, and this is an emotional thrill ride.

If there is a negative of this film, it is that it is a middle chapter of the story. Across the Spider-Verse is the perfect sequel to the original, as it takes the events of that film and focuses on the ramifications of Miles and company’s actions. This sequel was originally announced with Part I in the title, but even though Part I was dropped, it definitely is still a Part I. Both times I saw this (and I suspect my third time later today), when the screen goes black there is an audible response: there were a lot of “NO!”s, “How could they make us wait?”, and “Get out your phone, when does the next one come out?”. Along with these audible frustrations, however, was actual cheering and applause (my first viewing, the entire IMAX theater gave it a standing ovation). While this film definitely ends on a cliffhanger and doesn’t cap off the overarching story, it does not remotely take away from the crowd pleasing nature of this film or the fact that it tells a complete and emotionally fulfilling story.

Several of the early reactions to this film were comparing it to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and it is honestly the perfect comparison. Both films vastly improved on its original, both tell complete and emotionally charged stories, both are filled with MAJOR twists and surprises, and both set the stage for a final film to cap off a perfect trilogy. I’m not sure where this falls among my all-time favorite films, but it is certainly top 10. With just the first two films, we have already witnessed the greatest display of pure animated artistry in cinematic history. If the third installment, Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024, hopefully), is anywhere near as good as Into or Across, we are in the midst of the creation of one the greatest trilogies, perhaps the greatest, of all time.

10/10

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) is rated PG for sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements.

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