Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse review

The highly anticipated animated Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse arrives in the theaters June 1rst. And it’s worth seeing on the big screen.

I’m a big fan of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and knew it was a matter of time before a sequel would be released. Across the Spiderverse finds a lonely Miles Morales and an equally lonely Ghost-Spider in their respective universes. They hope one day to cross paths again. Without giving away the plot, they find one another. Miles learns there’s a much larger Spiderverse than what he believed after the first film. Miles battles villains and other Spidermen as he tries to learn his place in his universe and the larger multiple universes.

Before the movie started, I asked my 3 kids if they thought the sequel would be better than the first or receive the sequel curse. Everyone believed it was going to be good, but not as good as the first. I’m still processing if it was better. I loved the first movie, so I’m not ready to say this one is better. But it’s definitely close. The story, message, and action in the film are amazing. It’s also hilarious with a lot of surprises and cameos. People who grew up with Spider-Man comics and watched all the cartoons over the years will love this movie.

For some superhero movies, you don’t need to see the films leading up to the sequels. That’s not the case here. People that see Across the Spiderverse without seeing Into the Spiderverse will be a little lost. If you haven’t seen the first movie, watch it before going to the theater.

If you’ve seen the first, you know there’s going to be violence. And there’s a lot of violence in Across the Spiderverse. It actually surprised me a couple of times at the intensity of the movie. It rivals all the Marvel movies with its action and up close brutality. The amount of swearing was a bit of a surprise as well. This is not an animated movie for a wide audience. It’s rated PG and I’m shocked it’s not rated PG-13.

There’s also a lot of flashes and cuts, so if you have a sensitive viewer who doesn’t deal with strobes, then wait until the movie comes out on streaming services.

There are no end credits in Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse.

I had high expectations for Across the Spiderverse and Sony and Marvel delivered a very good movie. I would love to get into the movie more, but I don’t want to be the one to ruin the film. See the first movie and then check out Across the Spiderverse. Don’t let the fact it’s animated scare you away. The movie is everything Spider-Man fans want from a story spread out across a big screen.