Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs
3. The Excellent Character Development
Across the Spider-Verse certainly makes shrewd use of its expanded 140-minute canvas to explore the interior lives of its central and supporting characters alike in serious detail.
Miles, now a far more confident Spider-Man, is forced to reckon with factors that may simply be beyond his control, while Gwen must contend with, among other things, estrangement from her father, Captain Stacy (Shea Whigham).
Elsewhere Peter B. Parker wrestles with fatherhood in hilarious-yet-affecting ways, while Miles' foils - The Spot and Spider-Man 2099 - both have fleshed-out, understandable motivations for what they're doing.
Ultimately this is a film that's unafraid to pause the eye-meltingly gorgeous action for a few minutes to spend time with its characters as they talk through their problems, and it's a refreshing sight for the genre.