When it comes to sequels, taking risks doesn’t always have the best results. There are some sequels that improve on the previous film, particularly when following one that wasn’t particularly good to start with. There are those that remain at more or less the same level, and are usually viewed as being part and parcel of the original work, often utilizing the same creative teams. Then there are those which pale in comparison to their predecessor, trying to recapture the brilliance of the original work, but somewhere along the way proving to not be nearly as good. Unfortunately, when it comes to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the final category is the one we have to talk about, especially since this is a far cry from the exceptional nature of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, one of the most inventive and brilliant animated films of the past decade. To their credit, Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson (all of whom were brought onto this film as a new directorial team) had the unenviable task of improving on near-perfection, which is not always a particularly easy endeavour, but it is one that could have been substantially improved with the right approach to the material, which was not the case here. Ultimately, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one of the more unfortunate misfires of the year, primarily because it sets our expectations too high with the promise of expanding on this fascinating world it inhabits, but without actually delivering in most of the places where it should have easily succeeded. It is not a bad film, and it has its moments of excellence, but it rarely manages to follow through on most of its ideas, which come through in ways that prove how this film could have benefitted from a more concise approach to the storytelling process, and perhaps more attention to detail in a way that isn’t trying to overtake every other film on this subject – sometimes, too much ambition can be a flaw, as this film unfortunately demonstrates.

In order to circumvent any allegation that I am entirely negative on this film, we’ll start by discussing the merits, primarily the animation – unsurprisingly, this is the aspect of the film that is most universally praised, almost to the point where you could make the argument that the entire reason for this film existing is to be a showcase for the visual aspects, rather than the story. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a strikingly beautiful film, and the animation we find throughout this film is absolutely extraordinary. This is the primary reason there has been so much attention given to these films, since they have single-handedly proven that a superhero film can be visually striking even when animated. It is obvious why there was so much success in bringing Spider-Man to the screen in this medium – there are endless possibilities when working with animation, and this character has always been one that has benefitted most from a more flexible, elastic approach to how he is portrayed, which wasn’t always possible in live-action, but very easy to accomplish in animation. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse employs many different styles of animation, each one striking and beautiful in its own unique way, as well as contributing to the film’s feeling of being something of a tapestry of different concepts, interwoven to create something enchanting and visually striking. We encounter everything from hand-drawn, comic-style animation to the most groundbreaking computer-generated imagery and stop-motion animation, which creates a very inventive atmosphere from which this film draws quite a bit of inspiration. It is objectively true that this film is absolutely remarkable on a technical level, which is why the fact that its plot (which we’ll discuss in due course) doesn’t live up to this potential feels so bitterly disappointing, especially since this film had all the makings of a future classic. Mercifully, the previous film has already established itself as a remarkable work, so at the very least one entry into this trilogy is bound to be viewed as entirely brilliant, even if this sequel really does not live up to the impossibly high standard set by the previous film.

Another aspect of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that warrants some discussion are the performances. This is a very well-cast film, and much like the previous one, the directors are aware of the opportunity to take some bold swings in terms of the actors chosen for the roles, bringing in actors that we may not initially expect to appear in a superhero film (either due to the enormous amount of physical work required in live-action versions of these stories, or because they simply don’t have the specific qualities needed for these roles), but yet find themselves doing incredible work here, using their voices to bring these characters to life. Returning from the previous film are Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, both of which are fantastic, with the latter in particular bringing so much emotion to her performance, while Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry and Jake Johnson also reprise their pivotal supporting roles. Newcomers include Issa Rae, Oscar Isaac and Jason Schwartzman, the latter in particular delivering one of the best vocal performances of the year, as well as one of the most potentially interesting supervillains in the genre’s history, with The Spot being such a fascinating role, and one that is exceptionally well-performed by an actor who has been tragically underused throughout his career, but once again proves himself to be exceptionally gifted, his voice conveying so much emotion and genuine complexity, something we don’t normally see from him in his more comedically-tinged roles. As a whole, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has a great cast, and there isn’t a flaw among them – it may become somewhat ambitious, since there are a number of actors reduced to a couple of lines, but in a film this sprawling, it is understandable that there would not be enough time to flesh out every one of them, which will hopefully be rectified in the next chapter, which promises to continue this story and expand on these interesting characters.

Considering the strength of the animation, and the exceptional quality of the performances, one has to wonder where Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse faltered, since this is objectively a film that has certain strong elements. The answer lies in this very question – this is a film that works well in certain areas, but holistically it is far from successful. This is where the decision to split what was clearly a single story into two parts comes into play, since it is not the first time a series has chosen to stretch the final parts of the saga across multiple films, but it is one that shows the inherent flaws with this trend. Ultimately, this film is nothing more than two and a half hours of exposition, the entire story being made to set up the final film. It is understandable that there would be some degree of suspense at the heart of this film, but it certainly doesn’t make sense that the entire narrative centres on it, since it fails to stand on its own terms. The previous film was able to be self-contained, while still making it clear that this story would continue, which is why it has managed to stand the test of time. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the opposite – not only do you need an active working knowledge of the previous film to understand every aspect (although there are multiple prologues and moments in which the previous events are discussed), but you also need to be able to extrapolate from other sources or versions of these characters – there are far too many references that will be missed by the casual fan, and while every film of this nature will have some aspects designed to target the devotees of that property, here it becomes something of a burden, since it is impossible for most viewers to grasp the scope of this story without it feeling overly layered in ways that can be quite laborious and difficult to understand. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse just doesn’t rise to the level of its predecessor, which is quite unfortunate considering the abundance of potential it had – and absolutely every flaw comes down to the plot, which is convoluted, extremely fast and often quite confusing, even for those who are able to comprehend the scope of this film’s philosophy.

More than anything else, this film just struggles to do anything on its own – everything is done to either cleverly reference the previous film, or set us up for the next one, which is often the case with the second in a three-part series, which normally tend to be the worst in the series, since it is riding off the success of the previous one, but also doesn’t have to prove itself, since the third part has likely been greenlit already, meaning that the filmmakers can do essentially anything without much consequence. If there is a lesson to be learned from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it is that expectations need to be tempered, or else we are setting ourselves up for disappointment, which is to be expected from many sequels, since it is a rare occurrence for any film to recapture the magic of a previous film, especially one that was as massively successful as the first entry into this trilogy. However, we are at a point where most series are constructed with more than just a single film in mind, which has meant that many sequels have been quite strong, since they are extracted from well-constructed plans, which seem to have fallen by the wayside here, far too much emphasis being placed on the third film, which has caused this one to feel like nothing more than an overlong introduction, without much nuance or independent storytelling of its own. It is unfortunate to discover that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a downgrade, a film that doesn’t hold up as well as it should, and will likely be viewed as the middle part that is bookended by much stronger films (assuming the final part of this trilogy will be as promising as it seems, based on the hours of exposition we find in this film), which is not the worst fate for such a film, but certainly not the ideal scenario. It is beautifully made and well-acted, but this is not enough to make up for a middling story and a lack of consistency in the writing, which is the most important aspect in a film like this, since it adds substance to the style, which is unfortunately quite imbalanced throughout this film, making us wonder how much different it would have been with slightly more attention being put into allowing this to stand on its own, rather than just setting us up for the final part in a very promising series of films.