Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Movie Review

Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson

Five years have now passed since the animation world was torn asunder by the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a fantastic pop art film that sizzled with style and added substance to the story of Miles Morales on screen.

In that time, animated movies have undergone a sea change, with many releasing films that contain mixes of 2D and 3D art, to varying diminishing creative returns. So it's no surprise that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse continues the trend of shaking up animation, but at nearly 2hours and 20 minutes, it comes at the cost of a thin story and a frustrating cliffhanger.

In this latest Miles Morales finds his world opens up when Gwen Stacy (Steinfeld, easily the heart of the film) shows up offering him a peek at a multiverse and other opportunities. But despite Morales' desire to be part of another world as he tries to find his place in his own both as Spider-Man and as dutiful son, he soon discovers he can't outrun destiny.

It's fair to say Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a visual treat, albeit one that sometimes feels overstuffed and thwarted by its own intentions and executions. Most sequences look like they'd sit happily within a gallery and feel in parts like they're reinventing the genre once again.

But that sits with the cost of a paper-thin plot being covered by layers upon layers of sight gags, cameos, representation and bombast that threatens to become overwhelming and which causes the film to sag during its 140 minute run time.

When Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse works best, it's usually due to the scenes between Morales and his family, or between Stacy and her father, or between both Stacy and Morales. The quieter moments are where the Spider-Verse soars and where the emotional grip really bites. Equally these are the moments the art is vibrant too, rather than scenes bursting with moments that force your eyes to dart around looking for every available frame's details.

Ultimately, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a story that's been told a million times before within the genre, one that revels in its cliched tropes a little too heavily at times, and one which doesn't live up to the standards set by its predecessor.

That's not to say its hold isn't compelling throughout, merely to observe that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's web isn't quite as tangled as you'd hope - or as much fun trying to unpick the strands. Since it's the first part, it deserves to be judged as a whole, and perhaps the jury's out on that one - for now though, thanks to the more human moments, it soars - just maybe the creators need to draw a little deeper on that than throwing absolutely everything on the canvas.