Some are calling it not only the greatest Superhero movie of all time, but, the greatest animation feature ever!!

Is it?

Nyet.

2018's INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE was a fresh of breath air in the superhero stakes. Brisk, witty and visually ground-breaking. It not only lapped the live-action Marvel Spider-Man movies, it even scooped them by delving into the multiverse concept before FAR FROM HOME (and did it better, to boot). It was indeed so exceptional, that one could wish that it remained a one-off. But, that's simply not how corporations view 'franchises', and so, we are on to the first of at least two sequels.

The good news is that Writer-Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have kept the visual innovations moving forward. Even with a new three-headed Directing team, ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, is both consistent with the first film, while also still progressing forward. The multi-plane animation, rapid-fire onscreen graphics and pure visual density are cinematically breath-taking at times. It's so complex as to be impossible to absorb in one viewing (which may be part of the plan). 

The story essentially picks up where the first one ended with there being both a Spider-Man/Miles (Shameik Moore) and Spider-Woman/Gwen (Hailee Steinfield). Things get exponentially more complicated than the multi-verses in the original. By mid-film there's a veritable Comic-Con full of Spider-Beings.

Lord and Miller are joined by Dave Callaham on the screenplay. It's an incredibly dense multi-verse they are creating. It zings and zags well. For the most part it follows a logical enough framework, even when it gets bogged down in digression after digression (some lasting merely seconds). Many are amusing, such a Lego-verse, but, the compounding of them smacks of trying just a bit TOO hard to impress (not to mention the almighty Fan Service that must be fed at regular intervals). Even more damaging is that by adding arithmetically more verses, they cease to be truly consequential. No matter what obstacle or potential doom the characters face - there's always another verse that can be spun out to 'save' that version of the core characters.

ACROSS is most effective when it focuses on Stacy and Miles and their immediate families. Stacy, in particular here, becomes the center of attention and Steinfield's voice-work is truly stellar. The characters are compelling. One cares about their fate. They ARE the drama.

To paraphrase Buckaroo Banzai: No matter where you go - there you are. It's the characters that count in the end, not the obstacles. Hopefully, Lord, Miller and their collaborators will keep that front of mind for Part III.

If you haven't seen the original, it's not going to make much sense. But, the first one is much better