"Busy" is probably a good way to describe the latest animated Spider-adventure in general. Opening with a focus shift to the super-powered parallel world version of Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), drummer and somewhat depressed teen after the death of her version of Peter Parker (and her cop father's determination to hunt down the masked menace he thinks killed him), we're swiftly introduced to a pan-dimensional Spider-Society charged with tracking down menaces to the cosmos.
Meanwhile "our" Spider-Man, the now fifteen year-old Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is doing... not bad. Which is off-brand for a Spider-Man, as their character arcs usually revolve around tragic loss and isolation. Actually, there is a bit of isolation going on, as while school is ok and crime-fighting is working out well - even if current "villain of the week" portal-potholed bad guy The Spot (Jason Schwatzman) is a little trickier than he looks - Miles wouldn't mind someone he could really talk to. Someone like Gwen, last seen months ago returning to her home dimension he has no way to access.
If you remember the ending of the previous film you know where this is going (turns out that movie's finish was set a third of the way into this one), but the idea of jumping across dimensions making wise-cracks while fighting bad guys isn't quite as fun as it seems.
For one, Gwen (and everyone else) seems strangely reluctant to get Miles involved. And when he doesn't take no for an answer - meeting up with Spiders Jessica Drew (Issa Ray), the extremely cool Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and the angsty, humourless boss Spider behind the dimensional defence team, Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Issac) - things quickly take a turn for the extremely serious. Even if old friend and mentor Peter B Parker (Jake Johnson) also shows up. And he's got a baby!
It's the extremes that make Spider-Man work as a character. He's good with a quip; he's also constantly being put through the emotional wringer. This film happily spins both sides of the coin, being packed with jokes and easter eggs while also going really hard on both Gwen and Miles' teen angst. One of animations big advantages is that you don't have to be constrained by human limitations; here even the script has taken that to heart.
As for the animation itself, it looks great, pinballing from relatively sedate and serious to near impressionistic (the backgrounds sometimes degrade to near-abstract in big emotional moments), with characters from various dimensions often having striking different visual styles. Throw in the wide range of looks of the dimensions themselves and an approach to action sequences best described as "chaotic" (without ever becoming confusing) and this isn't so much a feast for the eyes as the kind of banquet you stagger away from feeling like you won't need to eat again for a week.
Miles and Gwen's struggles are firmly grounded even as everything around them seems to be in violent flux for the full 140 minute run time (and this is only the first half of the story: the rest is due in a year or so). Which is probably the point: as a metaphor for general teenagedness - and unlike most movie Spider-men who inhabit the usual "they're in high school but they're clearly in their early 20s" zone of movie "teens", Miles is firmly 15 and still under his parents (loving) thumb - having a broken heart be your anchor in a world constantly exploding around you is a lot better than most.
Which handily is also where Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse falls on the superhero movie scale.
- Anthony Morris
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