Joaquim Dos Santos

Although the mixed-media Pop Art animatronics are dazzling and the superhero saga compelling, watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse becomes an exhausting endurance ordeal. At 2 hours, 20 minutes (140 minutes), it’s the longest American animated film. Back in 2018, the Oscar-winning, comic-book adaptation Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse explored the idea of alternate universes, as Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a troubled Black-Latino Brooklyn teenager, discovered countless other web-slingers, variations on a theme. This sequel takes the ground-breaking concept even further.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an energetic, multifaceted adventure, and not just because its heroes hopscotch through other dimensions. As visually inventive as its 2018 predecessor, Across the Spider-Verse again delivers eye-catching action along with characters of depth and nuance both behind and outside of the mask. It’s a thrilling achievement, even as it leaves viewers dangling by a thread for the final installment.