Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
9/10 - A new era for western animation
I will have a warning near the spoiler-y part.
After watching Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), I was pleasantly surprised that Miles Morales' first feature film was so good. The animation was unique and fit the energy of the movie well, and the after-credits scenes were cool. But as much as I enjoyed that movie, I couldn't help but notice my lack of excitement for this movie.
I was not pleasantly surprised. I was incredibly, massively, and utterly surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. No, better yet, at how much I LOVED this movie.
There is almost no flaw with this movie. The action, the references, the cameos, the emotion, the pacing, the comedy, THE ANIMATION!
The animation is (and I say this without exaggeration) revolutionary for Western animated movies.
Anime has been doing a lot of this for a while, but even so, Across the Spider-Verse does it different enough that it should be considered the new standard for Western animated movies.
However, my praise for this movie has a pretty big caveat: you likely have to be very well-versed in Spider-Man's mythos to get the full effect of this movie.
SLIGHT SPOILER (NOT HUGE BUT STILL SPOILER-Y)
A big chunk of this movie is cameos, references, and explanations of things from other Spider-Man media, such as shows and games and movies.
SLIGHT SPOILER (NOT HUGE BUT STILL SPOILER-Y)
That fact isn't enough to suck the joy out of it for everyone, though. I believe most people would still really like the movie for the animation, the comedy, and the drama of it all. The story is quite emotional and you really understand why the antagonists do what they do. The duration of the movie may be a bit much for some people, but I was definitely engaged the entire time, and I've heard others say they feel like it was the fastest 2 hours and 20 minutes they've experienced.
I love this movie, and I'm going to watch it again.