My Honest Review on 'The Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse'

Okay...when I tell you I began typing this as soon as I finished the movie and reached home, I’m not lying.  There’s so much to talk about in this movie. I was VERY, VERY, VERY excited for its release and as soon as it released, I headed straight to the soundtrack by Metro Boomin, which I then played a million times. You can imagine, I had very high expectations for this movie. I saw promising reviews about it with people claiming it was just as good as the first, if not better. It released on June 2nd, 2023 and I watched it two days later. Here is my review...enjoy!!

I’m going to begin with the soundtrack. I adored it. The first movie had some phenomenal songs which everyone knew were going to be difficult to beat. Examples were: ‘Sunflower', ‘What’s up Danger?’ and ‘Hide’. But when I opened the soundtrack and played the first song, Annihilate, my jaw dropped. WHAT IS THIS MELODY? Swae Lee has a way of embodying Spiderman when he sings. He did it on the first movie’s soundtrack -- he did it again. His voice is just destined for the movie and fits flawlessly to the ambience. I don’t think any other singer could be just as perfect for it as he is. My favourite songs on the track were ‘Annhilate’, ‘Am I dreaming?’, ‘Calling’, ‘Hummingbird’, ‘Link up’...at this point I’m just naming every song on the track, but I definitely recommend taking a listen, you won’t regret it.

Now the main point of discussion, how was the movie? Don’t worry, I won't spoil it, in case some of you may want to see it. In my opinion, it was delightful. The first thing you’ll notice in the movie, is how Sony had elevated their animation skills to the next level. They steered away from realism and focused more on non-photorealistic animation. The animations are presented as a comic-book style, filled with texture. Something very different, as well as quite risky and new for them -- but it definitely paid off. The graphics were phenomenal, and mesmerising, you could tell it took a lot of effort. The movie was exceptional and it had many suspenseful moments that kept me off my seat. This movie focused more on Gwen and her personal life. It also showed the bond Miles and Gwen had, and how tensions arise between them, and how they overcome it. The movie focused on developing both of their characters. In the first movie, Miles faces people underestimating him and believing he isn’t ready to become a fully fledged spiderman. In this movie, Miles faces a similar problem, except he is having an inner conflict with himself as he realises he needs to choose between his family or the multiverse. In both movies the director wanted to keep one concept the same -- everyone doubts Miles and he proves them wrong. That’s what makes Miles different from the other Spidermen: he doesn’t want to follow everyone else’s footsteps, he wants to walk his own. 

One minor problem I had with the movie, was that I felt too much was happening at the same time. I understand the idea behind it, but they could’ve made it a little less action-packed, as it got slightly confusing at times. The main antagonist, Spot, barely had enough screen time. I didn’t get to see enough character development of him as I would’ve liked. He was a great supervillian, but for half the movie, he wasn’t even there. This leads back to my point of there being too much happening at once.

But otherwise, I loved this movie. My eyes were wrapped around the screen the entire time. I was flabbergasted when I realised the movie ended at such a climactic moment. I waited after the credits to see if it was a joke, but MARVEL...HOW COULD YOU END IT SO ABRUPTLY? Now, I have to wait another two years for the sequel. But until then, I’ll probably replay the soundtrack another million times. Definitely recommend this movie, to all those Marvel/DC fans or just a simple film lover, a solid 9/10.