Score: 4.5 / 5
Only recently, I finally joined the throngs of fans of Into the Spider-Verse, easily one of my favorite animated films to date. So seeing its follow-up, Across the Spider-Verse, in cinemas was an experience I bitterly regret missing in 2018. Stunningly beautiful artistry, revamped characters voiced by stellar actors, and endlessly inventive storytelling with mature, complex ideas make this franchise one of the best out there. It's a great sequel, one that builds on what came before while still telling its own story -- stories, really. Unfortunately, and truly the only thing that left a bitter taste in my mouth, is its deeply cruel non-ending that leaves us on a cliffhanger for no good reason. It could have easily and satisfyingly wrapped itself up with a few hints at what's to come and still been a wonderful self-contained film; instead, it threatens us, big studio style, with needing to return for a future installment that we already want or we won't have closure. It's a cheap ploy that we've become desensitized to (thanks to the MCU), and one I certainly didn't expect and don't respect from this franchise, which has done so well bucking the status quo of genre films, animation films, and extended IPs in mass media.
We begin about a year after the first movie with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) trying to keep her Spidery identity secret from her police captain father (Shea Whigham) in their beautifully watercolored universe. When a version of Vulture materializes and causes chaos, a few other Spideys drop in from other dimensions to clean up the mess, telling her that Spideys across the multiverse have teamed up secretly to rectify these aberrations. Their leader, an intense Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), doesn't say it, but we are meant to recall that Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), protagonist of this series, is such a "mistake." He was never meant to be a hero, and so begins the central thematic concerns of this film, once we shift to Miles's universe again: What makes a hero who should never have become a hero?
Miles is living a pretty good, albeit secret, life in Brooklyn when a new villain pops up. The Spot, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, was previously an Alchemax scientist whose body became host to wormhole-like portals during the events of the previous film. He's retroactively input into the previous film as the man Miles hit in the head with a bagel, and don't think for a minute that isn't relevant or hilarious in the year following the major Oscar wins of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Voiced by Jason Schwartzman, the Spot starts a bit awkwardly as a C-level villain of the week until he starts controlling and mastering his powers, becoming increasingly dangerous and unhinged. His antics draw the attention of the Spider-Society, who descend on Miles's reality in a lovely reunion before the action really takes off. Unfortunately, the Spot soon enough disappears from this film and doesn't get much payoff dramatically, but he'll clearly be a big bad for our heroes to deal with in the upcoming sequel, promised for us in March 2024.
Questions of purpose and fate are the bread and butter of superhero tales, but never has it been so dramatized or so relevant in our age of super-saturation in terms of sci-fi fantasy content and superhero mania. When Miles literally has to compare himself with a cadre -- nay, legions -- of other similarly-abled Spideys, he has to ask himself repeatedly what makes him special, if he even is special. The screenplay's sharp critiques of determinism and lionizing of perseverance are fresh and relevant, perhaps all the more in our post-pandemic world. We're reminded strongly through Miles and Gwen and their actions here that imagining our other potentials doesn't and can't matter as much as honoring and cherishing the reality we're already grasping. That mastering our own fate and knowing ourselves inside and out make us our own heroes, and that empowering ourselves and others in the moment matter infinitely more than seeking out destiny for destiny's sake.
Its ideas, though rich, are difficult to fully appreciate despite the film's almost two-and-a-half hour runtime because it's just so damn full of ideas. And action, of course, with eye-popping artistry that feels more than a bit overwhelming. More than once, I had to look away from the screen to remember where I was and flex my limbs because it's such a transportive, trippy experience to behold. An aesthetically confident, assured film like this has no business being so kinetic and frenetic, yet it pulls no punches with its breakneck pacing and endlessly creative flow. Even its "quiet" or more somber moments are jam-packed with beautiful artwork, inspired music, and raw, earned emotional weight. Not a moment feels extravagant or unnecessary, even though the whole thing is unmitigated spectacle and paraded as such. Its heavy action is perfectly easy to follow, which most live action sequences cannot say for themselves, and even when things get too heady or chaotic, its directors masterfully know when to ground us with a line of dialogue or delayed edit -- or to pump in the tunes.
I hate the ending, but I cannot wait for the next movie. These are the real deal, and if you haven't seen them, you are absolutely missing out.
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