‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse’ Movie Review: A (Flawed) Work Of Art Come To Life

I don’t think I will spark any controversy when I say that 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is both one of the best superhero films and one of the best-animated films of the 21st century.

Not only did the film boast some of the most beautiful and original-looking animation that I had ever seen (so original in fact that major animation studios like Dreamworks and Nickelodeon Movies have begun copying its style in their own feature films), but it was so well-written and so perfectly voice acted as well. Into the Spider-Verse managed to change up the typical Spider-Man formula by subverting several cliches and tropes while also staying true to the spirit of the original comic book character that Stan Lee created in 1962.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was easily one of my favorite films back in 2018, and so when it was announced that the film’s producers and writers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, were developing two back-to-back sequels with the first being Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it naturally became one of my most anticipated films of 2023. In an interview with Empire, Miller famously called the sequel the Empire Strikes Back of this Spider-Verse trilogy, and while I don’t think Across the Spider-Verse is quite as good as that film (or even the original Spider-Verse film if I’m being honest), this is still a worthy follow-up to that first movie and just a great film on its own.

Now, normally I would start with the positives first, but considering how well-made this film is, I will start with the negatives instead so I can just gush about this movie for the rest of this review. Right out of the gate, the first glaring issue I have with this film is just how poor the sound mixing is. For the first 30 minutes of the film, I could barely hear what anyone was saying as the dialogue was incredibly quiet while the use of music was blaring at a maximum volume. This was especially egregious during an opening fight involving Spider-Gwen, and I got so irritated with how quiet the dialogue was that it was actively affecting my enjoyment of that fight scene. Thankfully the issue was less prevalent as the film went on but it was a major issue during the first 30 minutes. According to co-writer and producer, Phil Lord, this is apparently the fault of theaters and not the film itself.

Another issue I have with the film is that because this is a part one of a two-part story, this film feels very incomplete as so many of the ideas and concepts that this film explores are only set up but never paid off. This is a movie that at times feels like it exists just to set up plot points and themes that will eventually be resolved in Beyond the Spider-Verse. Therefore, in the same way as something like The Matrix Reloaded or Fast X, it can be a bit unsatisfying when so much of this film is so entertaining and exciting and then just abruptly ends after teasing what might happen in the third film.

Outside of these issues, I have no other problems with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as this is an amazing, exciting, and jaw-dropping film from start to finish. On a visual level, it’s clear that Lord, Miller and all the talented artists and animators working at Sony Pictures Animations really went all the way to amp up the visuals from the previous film because this movie looks incredible. The film is practically a work of art come to life because not only has the actual animation itself drastically improved since 2018, but the use of color as well makes this such an amazing spectacle. The way that the color makes a lot of what happens in this film, particularly the action scenes, really pop is gorgeous to watch, but it also helps complement a lot of the quieter, more dialogue-driven scenes as well.

I just can’t stress enough how beautiful this movie looks, and the animation alone is worth the price of an IMAX screening of this film, but there’s a lot about this film from a narrative perspective that I thought was quite engaging as well. Just like in the previous film, Across the Spider-Verse follows the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and his struggles with being Spider-Man, and it’s made all the more trouble when he reunites with Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) as well as encountering new foes like the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) and Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Issac).

I won’t get too much into spoilers, but all I will say is that in the same veins of something like Empire Strikes Back, the story is surprisingly much darker than the first, revealing lots of twists and unexpecting surprises that will not only thrill audiences but also force Miles to confront his own identity as Spider-Man. This movie will put Miles to the test, and while there is still the classic Lord and Miller humor that’s apparent in all their films, this is a movie that very much prioritizes its story above anything else, and overall, it’s a really interesting and engaging one. This is a film that is littered with so many easter eggs and references to previous Spider-Man media, and yet it never got in the way of the story that Lord and Miller wanted to tell, and the end result is a movie that manages to entertain both hardcore Spider-Man films and casual filmgoers.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a crowning achievement in both animation and cinema in general. While it’s not quite as airtight or satisfying as Into the Spider-Verse, this is still a film that I can easily say is one of the best movies so far in 2023. The only thing that can make me even happier (aside from seeing the movie again) is for Beyond the Spider-Verse to come sooner rather than later.