Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Is a Masterwork of Animation

Cinema | June 4th, 2023

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Until I saw “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” I really thought the cinematic expression of the multiverse concept had peaked with the triumphant Best Picture Academy Award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a movie that catapults us – as I wrote in my original review – “onto the tracks of a rollercoaster careening through a dizzying set of alternative (sur)realities.”

But the new superhero film, which continues the onscreen story of teenagers Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and a whole army of colorful Spider-people that began in 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” is a glorious follow-up. “Across the Spider-Verse” is to the original installment as “Toy Story 2,” “The Godfather Part II,” and “The Empire Strikes Back” are to their franchises.

Last year, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” arrived in theaters just ahead of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” And here we are again, as “The Flash” – yet another multiverse-oriented movie – lands in two short weeks. The concept of parallel worlds has been evolving since at least the ancient Greeks, and Marvel has been steadily laying the groundwork for even more of it.

In the narrow corridor of contemporary media, fatigue has been the common F-word when it comes to superhero cinema. “Across the Spider-Verse” presents a strong argument that there is still plenty of gas in the tank.

Admittedly, it helps if you’re already a fan (of comics, graphic design, animation, cinema, intertextuality, etc.), but directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, working from a screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham, locate the emotional core at the heart of the saga and never let it get smothered or obscured by the stunning visuals.

The Spider-Man brought to life by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is arguably the greatest hero of the Silver Age. Even average citizens have likely heard some variation of the aphorism “With great power comes great responsibility.” And one of the triumphs of this iteration is the way it creates a conversation between the old and the new.

The filmmakers pack a lot of story into the movie’s 140 minutes, introducing another set of web-slingers who either assist or oppose Miles – for any number of reasons made clear along the way – once he leaves Earth-1610 through a portal and unwittingly threatens a canon-disrupting event.

Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, as Miles and Gwen, interact with a dazzling ensemble that includes Oscar Isaac’s Spider-Man 2099, Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk, Issa Rae’s Spider-Woman, Karan Soni’s Spider-Man India, and several others involved in the complicated business of the Spider-Society. To paraphrase Shakespeare from “The Merchant of Venice,” everyone plays a part.

But for all the head-swiveling action sequences and clever homages (including several direct tributes to “Everything Everywhere All at Once”), “Across the Spider-Verse” successfully reimagines the character while retaining the things that have made Spidey great since 1962: coming-of-age questions of identity, the challenges of personal growth, conflict with loved ones, the pain of sacrifice, and the uncertainties and anxieties that exist in the liminal space between adolescence and adulthood.

Contrary to the racist objections that have been playing out since the introduction of Miles Morales in 2011, all the differences and updates take absolutely nothing away from Peter Parker. And that’s amazing. 

Recently in:

Press release Celebrate Dinosaur Day on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum (612 E Boulevard Ave. in Bismarck). This free, family-friendly program is open to all ages. A…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy…

Sunday, October 19, 10 a.m.Buffalo River State Park, 565 155th St. S., Glyndon, MNHosted by the Red River Valley Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders at Buffalo River State Park for a fun fall day full of flora. (Say that three…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.com Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The multiple meanings of the title location in Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s “Bone Lake” cover the sex and death spectrum that will flummox Diego (Marco Pigossi) and Sage (Maddie Hasson) as…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

Press Release As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Essentia Health is highlighting an innovative — and recently expanded — program that brings early breast cancer detection services to rural communities. Essentia’s mobile…

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…