When a person comes of age, they must make decisions. Those decisions can either be really hard, or fairly simple. On Earth 1610, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) must make some really hard decisions. He’s a smart kid, with a good head on his shoulders, and he can go anywhere in the world… Or the universe for that matter. The story we started in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse continues, and it’s an extremely fun and wild ride. Lightning rarely strikes twice, but Spider-Verse is the exception.

Read: ‘The Little Mermaid’ (2023) Review: “A Star Is Born”

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse starts off by giving us a really detailed background story on Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). We see what happened on her Earth, and how things came to be in a way. Then we see Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) come into the picture. They take her to what’s essentially a Citadel of Spider-Men and show her the ropes of keeping the Multiverse intact. Gwen goes to visit Miles while she gets information on an anomaly in his universe, and everything goes south.

Miles follows Gwen into the Multiverse and learns that things aren’t always what they seem. He goes on the adventure of a lifetime and struggles to understand the decisions he makes affect every fabric of every universe. Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) also joins in to help the group figure out how to solve their giant problem: The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who’s wreaking havoc all over the Multiverse. Miles and all of his friends must come together to make decisions that may or may not be the end of everything they know and love.

The second film in a trilogy can make or break that trilogy. They are the bridge between the two films. We know there’s a third installment in this Spider-Verse saga, so it makes sense to understand the importance of Across the Spider-Verse setting up the next. Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Dave Callaham write a compelling and wonderful story. The script is fun and paced very well. The pacing makes the film feel like it is way shorter than 2 hours and 20 minutes because you just want to know what is going to happen next. You focus on the journey and not the length.

Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson do a wonderful job of making sure everything flows. There’s a process to making animated films, and they’ve nailed the formula. Great scripts need great directing and this trio got it down pact, making a culture-impacting superhero film is hard, and they’ve done it again. The cinematography is beyond phenomenal, this was truly pure art. There are some shots in this movie that had me astonished. Across the Spider-Verse is a beautiful film, every shot, every sequence, and every image just makes this film flow like the perfect river.

The voice acting as always is outstanding. Moore, Steinfeld, Isaac, Rae, and Johnson are all wonderful in their respective roles. Daniel Kaluuya and Karan Soni surprised me, but they were some fun surprises. The Across the Spider-Verse cast brings the fun on the screen for you to enjoy and laugh, and have a great time. They carry the emotion in this film, and it’s evident in every line.

There’s a lot to love about Across the Spider-Verse. The cast, the cinematography, the writing, there are plenty. My personal favorite is the score and soundtrack. Music is an element that’s appreciated very much and keeps some people in their seats. This soundtrack features some very prominent rappers with sounds mixed by Metro Boomin, one of the best producers alive at the moment. It helps add to the enjoyment of the movie.

Across the Spider-Verse caught my attention from the opening scene. The first thirty seconds of a movie or a song can go a long way. It tells the viewers whether they are in for a treat or not. This was definitely a treat, and an enjoyable one. There isn’t much more for me to say. It’s a film that speaks for itself. The film is a work of art, what I consider to be a masterpiece. Guillermo del Toro said animation isn’t a genre, it’s a medium. Across the Spider-Verse is proof of that, and it solidifies itself as one of the best-animated films we will see this year. – Rascal F. Kennedy

Rating – 10/10

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases in theaters on June 2nd!

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