Written by Amanda Clark
Having the “Spider-verse” introduced on the big screen with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse then followed up with Spider-Man: No Way Home is a version of the Spider-Man universe that can’t go away and shouldn’t as it’s also now in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse because it connects each version of Spider-Man, a character so many people love.
The animation style of this film is an animation style that more comic book-esque movies need to have. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse mainly implements the animation style from the first movie, but the animators here also combine multiple other animation styles (e.g., 2D, 2.5D, 3D, hand-drawn, water-color-washed, Syd Mead-style, punk zine, etc.) to complement the main style.
The creators aren’t scared to go outside of the main animation style for a few scenes. The viewer got to see a LEGO Spider-Man universe, a few live-action scenes, and every animated version of Spider-Man plus more in their own animation style — as seen in the trailer. The way each Spider-Man was incorporated is the reason this film is worth the watch and might be the best few scenes of the movie, even though the main focus is on Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), and newly introduced Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) throughout the movie.
Seeing any Spider-Man film is normally mind-blowing on its own when there is only one Spider-Man, but seeing the endless number of Spider-Men and Spider-Women together is something that brings comedy to the screen — it’s never a boring moment with Spider-Man.
For an animated film to be more than two hours long, it sounds like the plot will get dragged out to feel like three or four hours — that is not the case with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The plot is one for the books because it shows the aftermath of Into the Spider-Verse and how the life of Miles, Gwen, and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) changed while allowing for it to connect with other characters introduced.
However, with all this action and drama built up throughout the film, the ending the audience receives is unfulfilling. The plot is built up to be this ginormous situation with intense pressure becoming the climax of the film, but then it just ends — which might be why it feels short compared to the runtime. There is no falling action or resolution if we’re following Freytag’s Pyramid, and if we’re following the hero’s journey, then the viewer is left in Act II at step seven or eight out of the 12-step, three-act journey.
Yes, it’s been announced that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is only part one, and part two Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is coming out next year — so there can be a cliffhanger like there is here. But this part one ending is so different compared to other part one films. For example, Avengers: Infinity War is part one of Avengers: Endgame, but Avengers: Infinity War ends with a big battle, everyone loses to Thanos, pulling in the falling action of despair and concluding with the cliffhanger of how the Avengers will recover from this — with Avengers: Endgame picking up right where the first film left off restarting the hero’s journey. Part one is a satisfying ending because it makes fans feel like the plot is allowed to end in that situation while wanting more than receiving more in the next movie.
There’s a reason almost every film follows the 12-step plot process — it’s a tried-and-true journey. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse needed to end the film with something fans can grasp onto in addition to the cliffhanger rather than making it feel like an uncompleted film. The ending honestly feels like viewers are missing a good portion of the film, maybe an additional 20 minutes. Even with the ending making it feel like the creators ran out of time to finish calling it a day and saying the part they didn’t get to will just be in the part two portion, overall, it’s a must-see film.
Any superhero fan needs to see this movie, especially if they enjoyed the first film. The animation, action, and plot come together to deliver yet another film that can be watched repeatedly. If the ending was different, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse might be better than the first Spider-verse film — maybe even with this ending, some fans will enjoy the second movie more than the first.
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