Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren, Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya

When I was 7 years old, my mother gifted me my first set of comic books, all Marvel titles: X-Men, Avengers, Incredible Hulk, and of course, The Amazing Spider-Man. I remember the vibrant color of the front covers, the fresh smell of newsprint, and the color separation of the Ben-Day dots. Up to that point, the only superheroes I’d heard of or seen were the old George Reeves Superman serials and the cheesy but fun Adam West Batman shows on TV.

But the comics were something else. You could hold them in your hand, and each panel on every page consisted of a colorful world of action and wonder that stirred my imagination and inner reality. Those comic books lay the foundation for the visual work I would create years later.  Though more abstract from the outside, the hidden influences were there in comic artists such as Bill Sienkiewicz, John & Sal Buscema, John Romita, and Jack Kirby. 

We all waited decades before comic book superheroes could be acceptably portrayed on screen with the live-action blockbusters we all know and love/hate. So, when Sony released Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), they set a new bar for computer-animated superhero films previously held by Pixar with The Incredibles franchise. 5 years later, we now get the long-anticipated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and boy is it dazzling.

The story is a year removed from the previous film, with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) at 15 still trying to find his place in the world. Lonely and alone, he is unable to share his secret with his loving parents. Meanwhile, in a different universe, Miles’ love interest Gwen Stacy (aka Spider-Woman) feels much of the same having gone through a similar traumatic event in the death of her best friend. While fighting The Vulture (from a renaissance Spider-Verse), Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) is assisted by multiverse Spider-Folk including Miguel (voiced by Oscar Isaac), Issa Rae’s Jessica Drew, and Daniel Kaluuya’s Punk Spider-Man. It’s revealed that the Spider-Verse has been disrupted by a being called The Spot, originating from Miles’ universe. Gwen is given the ability to travel to Miles’ world to search for this strange being and hopefully stop it from destroying the Spider-Verse permanently.

If that sounds complicated, it kind of is, and the film’s manic pacing and editing only underscore what some may consider its frenetic nature. But this also highlights the immense production undertaking behind the scenes with more than 1000 animators working simultaneously on the project. What separates Across the Spider-Verse from most is the incredible art direction consisting of at least 6 different universes, with each having its own drawing style and look.

And with the exception of Lego Spider-Verse, the filmmakers went all-out to immerse and keep us in a comic book visual reality – from your standard monthly comic issue look to the more expressionistic/impressionistic style of yesterday and today’s graphic novels, Ben-Day dots and all — the best part being Across the Spider-Verse bears no stylistic or visual connection to Marvel’s live-action counterparts which admittedly I’m quite fatigued by at this point. 

There’s plenty of CGI as expected but it’s done in a painterly or comic book style with a lower frame rate that reduces the unrealistic perfection of standard 3D animation. The filmmakers tried to keep us in that 2D comic world and they have tactfully succeeded. While there is nothing down-to-earth about the technology and techniques used to animate this film, there is something grounding and satisfying with that hand-drawn look that leaves us wanting when we see live-action superheroes on the big screen. 

I’m not naïve enough to think that Across the Spider-Verse is a personal work of artistry on the level of a Hayao Miyazaki film, but it is an interesting postmodern take on today’s widely accepted and consumed 3D animated film. While it hearkens back to the nostalgia of old comic books, it feels as though it’s on the verge of breaking new ground.

I was overly impressed with 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse but Across the Spider-Verse ups the ante with extra emotional impact. With the origin storyline out of the way, the characters and their shared stories move forward if ever so slightly. There’s more Gwen Stacy, and we get a glimpse of some of the plot possibilities of multiple spider-verses. As with the first film, Across the Spider-Verse made me feel like a 7-year-old again, flipping through the pages of my latest comic book issue — and that is a pretty cool feeling.

Review by Vince Caro

Have you seen Spider-Man: Across The SpiderVerse? What did you think?

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