Review: Spider-Man - Across The Spiderverse
The Spiderverse Web Expands
THE PLOT
After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales (Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man) is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.
QUICK REVIEW
Lets get the elephant in the room out of the way. Like the previous “Spiderverse” movie, this one is getting rave reviews. So I fully admit that I will be in the minority in being underwhelmed by Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse in the same way I was underwhelmed by its predecessor Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse. Does that mean I think these are bad movies? No. I think they’re nice enough animated flicks. I just don’t think they’re the undeniable masterpieces everyone else thinks they are.
There is no doubt that the animation style and attention to detail with character arcs in these films are top notch. There are some very witty lines that get me to laugh aloud, and there are some nice “break the fourth wall” moments. The voicework is also top tier. No one can claim these are badly made.
My issues with these movies are that they have a frantic style that has its limits with me, there gets to be a point where the number of side characters start to feel like useless filler compared to all the great work put into the main ones, and they are overlong and a bit messy in the middle.
And to be focused directly on this one, “Across The Spiderverse”, I have to say I think its a downgrade from the previous one. The previous one kept me very engaged even after half-way through the pacing became sloppy for me, but this one left me feeling like I was just watching a long drawn out second act that wouldn’t get to the point.
How you feel about the first film will likely match how you feel about this one. For me, I thought Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse was a decent animated superhero flick but it also didn’t live up to the hype much less match how much I liked the first entry into this planned trilogy. I give it a decent enough B-.
INTIAL GRADING
