How do you go bigger than your Oscar award winning debut?
After almost 5 years, Miles Morales returns to the big screen in the Sony Pictures animated hit. Spinning out from the immense lore of the Spider-Verse, it planted a different Spider-Man at the lead. It then took a leap of faith into a tale on the good and the bad of the multiverse. Something which the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been trying to launch itself with, to varying success. Taking on this bold new origin, it challenges itself once again to tell something greater with Across The Spider-Verse.
It’s been over a year since the events of Into The Spider-Verse.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is the one and only Spider-Man of Brooklyn. After defeating Kingpin and ensuring the destruction of the Super Collider which was granting access to the multiverse, his life now consists of villains of the week and fond memories of friends returned to their own worlds. That is until Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) shows up in his world again. With the assistance of Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) and an elite team of Spider-People, the multiverse has been flung wide open again as the ramifications of Miles world ripples throughout the Spider-Verse.
We can swiftly move through the returning vocal cast, as they excel at their job once again. New cast members such as Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni and Daniel Kaluuya also bring their own flair as welcome additions. Stylistically, I thought “how could they beat what they did with the first film?”. Well they did somehow. New overlays and aesthetics present themselves in an overwhelming fashion that are as impactful as the original. And they somehow integrate live-action into this which just adds to the multiversal feel of the film.
The story itself is just as worthy, as it builds on the origins of Miles and his expectations versus his own skills and choices within the wider universe. This ultimately boils down to the ideologies of what it is to be Spider-Man: “With great power, comes great responsibility” and how Miles decides which parts he’s responsible for. An example of this shown in the universe of Spider-Man India and the ripples that Miles responsibility makes.
Another stellar soundtrack ties the bow on another success for the franchise. Into The Spider-Verse was a massive launch in how it not only told the story of heroism, but also in how it visually presented this. Across The Spider-Verse makes everything bigger from the visuals, to the action and the sound. This additionally adds to the runtime, which is a staggering 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is an easy 5 out of 5.
It’s everything its predecessor was, and sets up an incredible conclusion for its successor next year. And it could end up being one of the greatest on-screen trilogies we’ve ever see.
THIS YEARS EASIEST 5 OUT OF 5
It's really that simple
From the way it builds upon the animation and story, to the beloved returning cast, ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE is a success in what it wants to be.
And what that is, could be that it's THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK of the franchise as it wholly flings its whole body into something bigger, bolder and greater.
