Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE   **1/2

Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

2023

IDEA:  Miles Morales faces a new threat to the Spider-Verse while continually struggling with the expectations of his parents and his growing love for Gwen Stacy.

BLURB:  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a dazzling feat of mainstream animation innovation and a cynical work of corporate brand extension. This is not so different from its predecessor, except this time the film is 140 minutes long (!) and merely the first part of a two-part story (!!) that abruptly ends in the middle of the action. Both factors give Across the Spider-Verse a flabby, disjointed shape, as its narrative and visual velocity propel us through a cavalcade of seeming-climaxes that never build to anything concrete. Even more than the already insular first film, this one assumes and largely depends for effect on the viewer’s brand loyalty, his intricate awareness and knowledge of not only other Marvel films featuring the web-slinger but the myriad franchise iterations of Spider-Man comics and cartoons. If this can be alienating to the casual or agnostic Marvel consumer, Across the Spider-Verse at least wows as a purely aesthetic and kinetic experience. Although it unavoidably lacks the novelty of the original, the film still bursts with eye-popping stylistic wizardry. Especially memorable are the Rothko-esque expressionist backdrops of Gwen Stacy’s world, the Leonardo-styled workbook pencil strokes that characterize the villainous Vulture, and the flickering magazine clippings of Spider-Punk. The animation also ably supports the themes, never more so than in the clever contrast between the Spot’s porous malleability and Miguel’s fanatical adherence to the rules of canon. Such a premium on artistry is a welcome sign of an attempt, at least, to transcend perfunctory fan service.