Note: This review contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Of the more well-known superheroes from Marvel and DC,
Marvel’s Spider-Man is one that’s no stranger to adaptations across TV and
film. Some have had a lasting ripple effect, like Japanese Spider-Man inspiring
the giant robots in Super Sentai (aka Power Rangers) or how the
original Sam Raimi Spider-Man (2002) movie helped make superhero films
more viable at the box office. Recently, 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse made a huge splash in the world of animation thanks to its
well-written story and its unique art style that perfectly replicated a living
comic book and demonstrated that a CG film with such an approach could succeed
at the box office. Into the Spider-Verse’s success has inspired
experimentation in other animated productions, as seen in Sony Animation’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines and DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys
and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as well the upcoming Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, to name a few.
While time will tell how well other films inspired by Into the Spider-Verse will age, the film itself has remained enjoyable every time we’ve seen it, thanks in part to the continued discovery of new details in both the animation and story. Naturally, we immediately had an interest in the sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, from the millisecond we saw the original trailer (the one that initially labeled it “Part One” before that style of release fell out of favor), leading us to do what we normally haven’t since COVID-19 and watch a film on its opening weekend. Fortunately, Across the Spider-Verse proved itself worthy of its pre-release hype, though its nature as half a full story does affect the experience.
