Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023)

I had quite the dilemma when I left the cinema after seeing the visual feast that is Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. I wasn’t debating whether or not I liked it. I wasn’t bothered by the cliffhanger of an ending. I simply wondered whether or not I could immediately rank this as a superior film to the damn fine Spidey movie that preceded it. After wrestling with my conscience for a short while, I have decided that I can. Others may hold that ending against it. I won’t. In fact, the way the ending promises even more great Spider-Man adventures in this format means that I view it as a bonus. This is a perfect movie.

We’re back in the company of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), but we only reconnect with Miles after an extended opening sequence that shows us the ongoing adventures of Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). Viewers are brought up to speed about, or reminded of, the various incarnations of Spider-characters throughout the multiverse, and it isn’t long until Miles Morales is battling a foe (Spot, voiced by Jason Schwartzman) who puts multiple realities in serious danger. 

That’s all I want to say about the plot of the film, but I could write so much more here and still feel as if I was just scratching the surface. Let me just add that there is still a great energy to this material, a great blending of various animation styles, and characters depicted onscreen that many fans thought they would never see in a major movie.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are back on writing duties, alongside Dave Callaham, and they bring their patented brand of humour with heart, once again seeming to relish the chance to craft great moments for even the most minor Spider-figures. It also shows how to create a picture of great impending peril while keeping the focus on characters, real emotional turbulence, and natural and rewarding personal developments.

Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson may all be new to their roles in this particular movie series, but they all work in service to material that effortlessly (well . . . seemingly effortlessly) feels livelier, cooler, and more colourful and diverse than any other superhero movie we’ve seen so far. The only other film that comes close is, well, the previous Spider-Verse adventure.

It’s impossible to narrow down the praise for voice performances that are such a good fit for the animation, especially Moore and Steinfeld being so perfect in the lead roles, so I will just reel off the many names of the core figures: Jake Johnson (another welcome returning player), Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Shea Whigham, Issa Rae, as well as some live-action incarnations, shown in archive footage very familiar to us Spidey fans. 

As already mentioned, the ending didn’t bother me, but I know some will be frustrated by the idea of another superhero film ending on a note that leads in to whatever the next instalment is due to deliver. I relish the potential ahead, because this movie series keeps delivering on that potential, and far beyond it. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse crashes on to screens as one of the best ever superhero movies, one of the best ever animated movies, and simply one of the best ever movies, period. And to think . . . I didn’t ever seriously consider that anything would be able to supercede the first film. 

10/10

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Ani-MAY-tion: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is the best Spider-Man movie made, to date. That's not to say that some of the others don't come close, or to call this perfect. It just captures the spirit of the character, and the comic-book style, better than anything else put onscreen so far, helped in no small way by the stylistic choices made, and a fantastic voice cast.

Shameik Moore plays Miles Morales, a teenager who finds his life becoming a bit more problematic when he's bitten by a spider and turned into Spider-Man. It's confusing because, in the universe that Miles inhabits, there is already a Spider-Man (Chris Pine). And then another Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) turns up. And then quite a few other incarnations of the character also turn up: Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney).

Taking a cue from the character of Morales, this is a movie infused with the energy and colour of well-made street art. It has a sense of anarchy art times, and yet remains surprisingly on point when it comes to the kind of lesson that we're used to seeing delivered by a Spider-Man film. It's loud and vibrant for a lot of the runtime. It also takes some time to allow Morales to try sorting through his own muddle of thoughts as he figures out how best to adapt to his potential new life.

Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman do a great job with the script, co-written by Rothman and Phil Lord. There's a reason for the events onscreen (a device being fired up by the main villain, Kingpin) and everything is balanced out perfectly. You get plenty of moments to make you laugh, plenty of fun action sequences, and a plot that actually makes sense and builds towards the sort of spectacular finale you get from any standard superhero movie, despite this feeling far removed from standard superhero movies in a number of ways.

The voice cast are absolutely superb, across the board. As well as those mentioned, you also have great work from Brian Tyree Henry (the father of Miles), Mahershala Ali (a cool uncle that Miles looks up to), Liev Schreiber (Kingpin), Kathryn Hahn (a scientist working for Kingpin), Zoë Kravitz, and Lily Tomlin.

The only thing holding this back from being a perfect movie is the fact that it's sometimes a little bit TOO loud and busy in scenes that have your eyes darting around to try and take in every single detail. And most scenes have plenty of details that will make this a treat to rewatch again and again.

Who would have thought that, while attempting to tell various Peter Parker adventures again and again, the secret to making the most satisfying Spider-Man movie to date would involve putting Miles Morales front and centre? Actually . . . a lot of Miles Morales fans have been saying it for years. It's good to see that others can now see how right they were.

9/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.