“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is a 2023 animated movie about the iconic Miles Morales in an entire multiverse of alternate versions of his alter-ego, Spider-Man. Starring Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara, and Jason Schwartzman as The Spot, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is a movie that will grip you from start to finish.

To start with, the animation is amazing. Even though it has been used in multiple movies, the 2 dimensional style using 3 dimensional models is just as amusing as ever. Each universe in the movie also has its own unique style, whether it’s the cloudy watercolor inspired atmosphere of Earth 65, the warm, chalky cityscape of Mumbattan, or any of the other stunning universes that appear in the movie. As visually entertaining as this movie is, there’s much more to enjoy than eye candy.

While most people might not think about it, one of the best ways to pull a movie together is its original soundtrack. In the case of “Across the Spider-Verse,” the soundtrack perfectly captures the emotions, mood, and atmosphere of the movie. It’s suspenseful, emotional, and a downright headbanger. I’ll admit I’ve listened to this soundtrack multiple times over, and every time it manages to put a clear picture of this amazing movie in my head.

When people think of Spider Man, they think of the man in the iconic costume webbing up bad guys while cracking a few jokes. What I absolutely love about “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is that it manages to flip all of this on its head while still delivering the kind of Spider-Man story that newcomers and long time fans can agree on. As for the iconic design, it has almost been completely done away with and replaced with hundreds of unique Spider themed characters including a cowboy, a monkey, a cat, and a robot.

As for webbing up bad guys, the biggest villain in the movie (in my opinion) isn’t a person, but in fact fate itself. This mixes things up compared to other movies where there’s one identifiable villain and is very entertaining to see play out. All of these changes make “Across the Spider-Verse” feel fresh while still being true to the character of Spider-Man.

Through all this “Across the Spider-Verse” never loses sight of what makes Spider-Man such an iconic character: he’s only human. Because of this, “Across the Spider-Verse” delivers a heartfelt, suspenseful, and inspirational rollercoaster of a story that even rivals “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the movie’s predecessor. I’d say it deserves a 10/10.