Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Greg Rath-Pribyl

Review by Greg Rath-Pribyl Patron

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2023

★★★★★

Watched 02 Jun 2023

Up until this point, Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse was my favorite comic book movie of all time. It revolutionized superhero movies as well as animation in general. Many animated films now are creating their own stylistic look that is not only gorgeous and inventive but also appropriate for the story that it is telling. We really have the first Spiderverse to thank for that.

Now we have the sequel, Across the Spiderverse and..... this movie does the impossible. It is not only as good as the original, but surpasses it. At one point, I was watching this movie and I said to myself "This is the greatest thing that I have ever seen"...and we weren't even 30 minutes into the movie yet!

The animation alone is something to admire. It's some of the best i have seen in any movie! Every frame looks like something that I could hang on a wall. Whenever a new style is introduced, you feel the love and dedication the team has for this art form.

Phil Lord & Chris Miller are two of my favorite creative minds working today. While they did not direct it, this movie incorporates everything that I love about their work. Not only are their projects incredibly smart, creative, and hilarious but there is a meta-modernist aspect that I adore. Instead of just winking at the camera letting you know they are in on the joke, Lord and Miller play with your expectations and use it to their advantage. Probably the best example from this movie comes from the character Spot. On paper, Jason Schwartzman playing a Spider-Man antagonist sounds like a bad idea. However, the movie knows he may come across as just a "villain of the week" type of guy and incorporates that into his motivation. As the movie goes on, Spot becomes a very well-developed character AND an intimidating threat.

If I really had to find anything to nitpick, I’d say the story (while still fantastic!) is not quite as tight as the first film. There is a point in the second half where the story focuses on something different and after a while, I was asking myself..."Where did Spot go?".

It also ends a few times. There are several moments where it feels like it's about to end on a "To Be Continued" but then it keeps going.

Overall, everything that people have been saying about Across the Spider-Verse is true. This film is Lord & Miller's “Empire Strikes Back". It's not just my new favorite movie of the year but it is my new favorite comic book movie, one of my favorite animated films, and just one of my new favorite films of all time.

I cannot wait to see this again.

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