- Starring
- Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Issac, Jake Johnson
- Directors
- Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
- Rating
- PG
- Genre
- Animation, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Superhero
- Release date
- Dec 14, 2018
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Story/Plot/Script
Visuals/Cinematography
Performance
Direction
Age Appropriate
Parent Appeal
Non-Wokeness
Rating Summary
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is an explosion of colors and sounds almost magically weaved into a web of excitement that will keep you securely stuck on the edge of your seat. Even though it suffers from a touch of sequelitis, with much more of what you loved in the first one (like a whole lot more), the filmmakers mostly hold it together, leaving us with a really fun, if overlong, movie.
When teenager Miles Morales is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains incredible powers, he meets an interdimensional team of Spider-People from parallel universes. Together, they must battle a powerful threat that could tear reality apart. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse delivers a groundbreaking, visually stunning animated adventure full of heart and multiversal chaos.
Login or
Join For Free to vote.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
Thanks for this review (and this type of reviewing in general). I enjoyed the first film,
and when I mentioned seeing this one, my husband was hesitant since it seems like everything
is so woke as to be vomit-inducing, and he wasn’t sure if this would be more of the same
(and it’s not like the average Rotten Tomatoes reviewer would bother to mention if the
whole movie was a gay, socialist, love-fest). So thanks for making this review!
Your reviews are exactly what I am looking for, straight to the point and no sugar
coating wokeness.
I am a huge fan of the first movie, watched at least 4 times and with my son too,
also bought a lot of the toys they released.
For this one will be a hard pass for me because of that “protect trans kid” message,
this message by itself is something absurd for me, and I am not confortable with my
son reading this and asking what it means.
Even if it’s just for a couple of frames I prefer to keep distance from that culture
Across the Spider-Verse looks like an exciting continuation of the beloved animated franchise. Can’t wait!
Thank you. My son and i will be going to watch it.
Great website and service.
Does it have the pride flag because that’s only reason I won’t see it.
I didn’t see one, however, the visuals are so frenetic, it wouldn’t have been difficult to miss.
Wasn’t there a “Protect Trans Kids” flag in the movie? That is the reason that I’m boycotting the movie, and came here to see if the flag was mentioned.
I didn’t notice it. However, I’ve head that it’s there. The visuals are so frenetic that it’s entirely possible that I missed it.
I would be wise to research it since it was in the news for some time before the movie came ot.
I saw the protect trans kids flag in Gwen’s bedroom above the door. Also, you forgot to mention when a building is sinking, and someone says “metaphor for capitalism”… as if they aren’t benefiting from that very thing.
Most Woke movie since the last one and will remain so until the next one. 100/100/100🤪👍
i hear that there was a scene with Gwen’s room that had a pride flag from the trailer. thanks for the feedback.
I didn’t see any pride flags
According to the World News Group review there is a Protect Trans Kids sign above Gwen’s room…
It has a trans flag 🙂
There is a “TRANS KIDS MATTER” flag in Gwen’s bedroom.
I feel you, I’m also terrified of fabric
You very well know it has nothing to do with fabric and everything about what it represents. And no, it doesn’t mean “love .”
I’m sure you wouldn’t object to a Nazi flag or a Confederate flag on a wall in a movie either since you’re not “terrified of fabric.”
i love you caleb you’re my favorite person on here thank you for your service
i love you thank you for your service
Only reason I am also skipping this movie is the flag
I mean I guess I get it but isn’t it a little extreme to not see a movie for such a small appearance? It probably wasn’t even approved, just one of the animators decided to add it on a whim.
It’s also important to note Gwen isn’t trans, ignoring that fact that people that young can’t be trans she is confirmed normal.
The tranny agenda has no place in a kid’s cartoon, end of story. Plenty of non-woke Spiderman to watch, so there is no harm in missing this.
If there’s a little poop in the pool, do you still go swimming?
Holy $h!t another family guy fan !!1!!1!!! Who’s your favorite character??? My fave is quagmire!! Giggity giggity!!
In Gwen’s bedroom above her door there is a sign that reads “protect trans kids” visible for about 5 seconds. That was the extent of the overt woke messages. Honestly the movie was overall fantastic though. I’m the comics Miles was stupidly boring, but they’ve really carved out a great character in these movies so far.
omg woah how awful how dare people with differing and god forbid inclusive opinions exist 😦😦😦
Would you have that same energy if the flag said “Protect Christian Kids”? This is about promoting agendas in kids’ movies where they don’t belong. Keep that stuff in adult entertainment, not in entertainment for kids and family.
It’s much, much more than that. If it was simply having ‘differing people’ that was triggering,
there would be comments about Miles’ race, or African-American culture that would be commented
on here. As you can see, no one has an issue with Miles. Comparing that to advocating an agenda
(however briefly) that promotes harmful ideas to kids is another entirely. The actual consensus
on the benefits of things like gender surgeries and hormone replacement therapies is nil. The
only ones that show support are the ones conducted by pro-agencies… (Big surprise there).
People are different, but promoting very harmful ideologies to young people is dangerous and
irresponsible. That’s a main reason why people take issue with it.
So a movie with a trans flag stating “Protect trans kids” and a pregnant Spiderwomen fighting does not meet the woke criteria for this site? Hard pass
You’re right about the pregnant Spider-Woman. I missed/didn’t see the pride flag.
My response to pregnant spider woman: she is a woman, and she immediately mentioned her husband, not wife, not boyfriend, but husband. So I was satisfied there.
Although I have my misgivings about the movie, I feel a little differently about the pregnant Spider-Woman thing. At least she had a husband, and she is also super-powered so her pregnancy might not be in any real danger. It’s not like, say, Last of Us Part 2 (if you’re familiar with that) where a regular non-superpowered woman routinely endangers herself and her baby when going on missions.
Yeah. I think the reviewer wanted to like it so much he gave it a pass.
okay karen
I mean, if we’re calling out pregnant Jess Drew for being fairly irresponsible (and I’m not saying she isn’t), then Peter B. Parker should be mentioned as well for bringing his toddler daughter along on his escapades. Sure, she’s shown to have spider powers of her own, and therefore more capable than an average child, but a toddler is still a toddler. I find it hard to believe Mary Jane would be cool with Peter regularly endangering their only child either. Peter even at one point tells her in a hushed, lowered voice, “Don’t tell mom” before swinging off with her, implying he knows it’s a bad idea and MJ wouldn’t like it.
I couldn’t agree more. Not sure how it didn’t make it to the woke elements section because it’s definitely in my notes.
I hated what they did to Peter.
I’m curious to know your thoughts on Spider-Punk/Hobie Brown.
I considered writing about him in the review. Sure, he spouts off a lot on inane pseudo-intellectual nonsense,
and a not insignificant amount of it was anti-capitalism woke bs. However, his was an unreliable voice, going
so far as to state that he is anti-consistency. That line, more than any other allowed me as an audience member
to fully accept his role as comedic relief and to be able to enjoy the fact that he is actually just contrary
for its own sake as well as for the sake of laughs. His entire “philosophy” is a joke and he’s in on it.
It’s similar to the reason why I didn’t blast the cross dressing in
The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It was played as something foolish worthy of ridicule and laughter.
So was Spider-Punk.
Yea this movie seems exceedingly woke. Will be skipping.
I am so glad there is now a place to find these sort of reviews! My boys love any Spider-Man film, and especially loved the 1st. They enjoy seeing all the different spider-men, so this is a huge relief that it is ‘worth it’.
I have seen an action figure of a character called, Cyborg Spider-Woman. She looks extremely male. I assume there is nothing to that?
Miles has a #blm badge on his back pack.
dude get a life.
Seriously, thank you for this site!
Hey guys. Full disclosure: I saw this in Mexico and didn’t see a “Protect Trans Kids” sign. I’m seeing it again in the States and ill update if needed.
Just found this site, thank you for your film analysis. I hate spending $100 taking my kids to movies just to have it be garbage.
Thanks for doing these reviews. Extremely helpful as a parent!
L parenting
Thanks for this whole site! So excited to check it out before viewing with my kiddos. I appreciate this so much!
Thanks for the update review and appreciate your site. Very helpful
We felt the movie had serious pacing issues and that it took a really long time until we finally got to the heart of the movie. There was so much fluff and wasted time, which we understood when we got to the end of the movie, when we found out they were wasting our time to be able to make this a two parter. It’s a shame, because there’s a good movie in there. I really agree with and appreciate your comment about the mom having multiple conversations with Miles instead of the dad.We too felt that took away from the movie, because the heart of this film is father-child relationships, and yet they shoehorn the mom in.
Being pregnant myself I found the pregnant Spider Woman really irritating. I don’t understand it…she’s supposed to be representing me? I’m supposed to feel good about myself watching her do things no pregnant woman would or should do? It’s ridiculous…
I found the woke lines here and there really distracting and unnecessary.
as always thank you for this amazing site and the service you are doing for us free-thinking, rational and based (in the real world) people. i do intend watching this movie based on your feedback and review, thank you.
Saw it last night and it was fantastic! Though I did see the ‘protect trans kids flag’, I was willing to dismiss it due to the fact that I don’t have any kids. Sucks that we were left on a cliffhanger, but hey, what can you do about it?
Just wanna say thank you for this guide. We enjoyed the 1st and look forward to this one
I’m loving this type of review format thank you! Nowadays Hollywood sucks so bad that we don’t know how woke a film is going to be so I really like that you guys put that into your reviews. And yes I said you GUYS. Thanks for the review I’m definitely not going to see it in theaters but maybe on the high seas yoho and a bottle of rum.
Well it portratits a mulatto guy being the romantic interest of a blond white girl, so yeah, it’s woke AF.
The movie is garbage….a stew of comic book high art, lsd tripping,
frentic bombardment of noise, poor plot, cohesion, non-kid themes and
full ok wokeness……its not even animation…hard to describe….its not
fun, funny, interesting…..this was someone’s pet project and its utterly
crap….hated it…..my boy who loves spiderman said “dad this movie is
average”…..such crap….the reviewer failed giving this a pass.
To dismiss it on that account is just pure racism. There are plenty of conservative interracial couples IRL. Both are good kids from upstanding families, Dad’s are police chiefs, etc.
The most annoying woke moment for me was the offhand British colonialism comment by the Indian spiderman. Just a needless potshot.
I am so glad you review films honestly. There would be other websites that give this 1/10 because of the woke elements, which isn’t an accurate reflection of the quality of the film. Some films are worth watching despite the woke elements, and this is an example.
Shouldn’t the “trans kids” thing disqualify the movie entirely? Advocating for the mutilation of children should be the line where we make a stand.
I think that there is a strong argument to be made that it should dissuade people from spending their money and time on it, which is why we removed it from our Worth it section.
This is a stretch on almost all accounts. Even Gwen with her flags doesn’t make sense. She might be the most conservative character in the movie. As a Puerto Rican the mother having the stronger connection to her son makes the most sense. Pregnant Spider Woman being called out for being pregnant but talking about her husband and not knowing the gender til birth is pretty far from leftist. Peter Parker married Mary Jane and had a daughter. Nothing left about that. BLM sticker with a dad who is a cop and someone who fights crime doesn’t even make sense. Definitely just thrown in there for attention.
It’s a good movie. Worth watching. Form your own opinions.
“Pregnant Spider Woman being called out for being pregnant but talking about her husband and not knowing the gender til birth is pretty far from leftist.”
Can’t speak for anyone else, but I think the issue is that rather than being responsible and taking steps to mitigate the risk of endangering her unborn child, it was more important for the filmmakers to show Jess Drew as a “grrrrrlll bawss/yaaaaasss, slay kweeeen!” type character.
“Peter Parker married Mary Jane and had a daughter. Nothing left about that.”
I actually liked that Peter was shown as being a loving, involved father that actually enjoyed being a dad, wanted to be a dad, and didn’t hate or resent his daughter or see her as a burden. It’s also strongly implied that his restored relationship with MJ and new role as a dad gave him a renewed sense of purpose and meaning in life.
But there’s a distinct difference between not being an absentee father and wanting to be involved in your child’s life and bringing your toddler daughter along with you into a highly dangerous battle behind your wife’s back. Peter, you’re supposed to have a genius-level intellect man. You could have left Mayday with MJ or, I dunno, tried to find a babysitter. Plus it splits his focus and compromises his ability to handle whatever mission he’s on. Instead of focusing on the fight, he’ll need to be sure he’s not putting his daughter strapped to his chest at risk. Not exactly a smart move.
Hell is not, never has been, and never will be a swear word.
Exactly correct, except for one thing. In The U.S. it is, always has been, and will likely continue to be a swear word when not used in religious context. Other than that, you’re exactly right.
https://www.wikihow.com/Is-Hell-a-Bad-Word#:~:text=Hell%20is%20a%20swear%20word,and%20%22For%20hell's%20sake!%22
Yes, wikiHow. The most reliable of sources.
*Sigh*
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/review/nine-nasty-words-john-mcwhorter.html
https://time.com/8760/cursing-study-10-lessons-about-how-we-use-swear-words-on-twitter/
https://word.tips/us-states-curse-words-map/
https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/is-hell-a-curse-word/
https://earlychurchhistory.org/communication/curse-words-expletives-from-the-bible/
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/making-history/explicit-content
https://www.justlearn.com/blog/swear-words-in-english
I’m grateful for this website, but this movie is way more woke than the review indicates. I liked the first one, but I never would have given my money to this studio, nor sat through it, if I knew how Leftist it would be. In addition to what’s noted for the woke elements, there was a good deal of Spanish spoken with no English translation. That is a woke political statement. I won’t be watching any more of these movies. I don’t care how the story ends anymore.
There’s probably a case to be made. I speak Spanish, so it didn’t even register with me.
Ok, i saw the movie.
You missed a GIANT sign on Times Square that says “Black Lives Matter” idk how you missed it
The trans-flag i just found out about and i literally just came here to see if you noticed it, glad i wasn’t the only one.
I think many people in the comment section miss the point of this site.
They should read the site, the reveiws and the element and realize if that’s too much for them or not.
And I guess as such, that means that you (the owner/person that wrote this) probably should write every single thing that someone might consider “woke”, cause I already see that’s the way the site is
This movie was fine, I loved it. I thought the first one is hella overrated and bad.
Is this movie woke? On its own? No.
BUT
It’s obvious that a lot lot lot of woke people worked on it and try to put as many “woke” elements in it.
You missed another one.
Pregnant black Spider-Woman says “we don’t want to know the sex of the baby”
You know what’s the woke element here?
MAYBE I AM WRONG, but in my experience with people…..people always say “gender of the baby”. I’ve never heard anyone say “sex of the baby’. Not even doctors.
I am sure some people say it, but again, this was obviously a mini-line that someone had to approve/change/add for “woke elements”
The Spider-Punk character has an entire existance that revolves around being “anti-capitalist” and what i found laughable… modern-leftism. Like yeah, Punk is about anti-establishmentism, but the fact they made the character modern-left and the fact that the modern left tries to make punk something that was always same as modern leftism is hilarious
I agree with your comment in the comment section that yes, the character is not consistent and it’s funny. And thats’ his personality, a character that is against any logic or authority or whatever. But for some people maybe it shold be mentioned so idk (btw, i found it odd that the character is black, probably less than 5% of punks were black back when punk was a big deal)
Surprised, very surprised they showed cops in a positive light mostly. I missed maybe, but not too many anti-cop lines. The closest one was when Gwen said “Dad, you want to stay a cop so a bad one wont’ take your place” which is not woke in my book but who knows for some people. I think we should agree that bad cops exists.
Still, in a movie with lots of woke references, they did not squeeze in a single reference or a joke about cop characters?? Surprised.
Just wanted to make this comment cause i like the site. I view it like i said in the first sentence. A site that gives you things that are happening so it’s for the reader to decide if it ‘s ok or not. Not just the final sentence but the whole review/explanatioon
Btw….the way the site works is…maybe not perfect with these comments? I have to zoom out (i am on PC) to see long sentences, and even while writing this comment, the entire “comment box” does not fit my screen so idk.
Best of luck, looking forward to more reviews, especially some that I am on the line of “will this be too political?”
Good luck
Thanks for the comment. The reality is that we aren’t going to always catch everything, and no group of people are monoliths, not even conservatives. So, there are going to be things that we disagree about. For instance, in the area that I live, it’s absolutely commonplace for people to refer to the “sex” of the baby. “Gender” wasn’t a word that anyone here on either side of the political isle used with any regularity concerning anything until very recently.
So, we’ll keep doing the best that we can do and keep the comments section up and available so that you guys can add things that we either missed or wouldn’t necessarily agree with.
Concerning the format of the comments section, could you provide your computer’s resolution and screen size, as well as your browser?
Thanks again!
Oh yeah, I agree with everything you said, my comments were mostly in general and with some of the people that wrote comments above.
I use Google Chrome, and my resolution is 1440×900
Here’s how I can see your comment for example:
https://i.imgur.com/SOYvGkJ.png
“Still, in a movie with lots of woke references, they did not squeeze in a single reference or a joke about cop characters?? Surprised.”
you absolute troglodyte how could you miss when Miles’s dad says “this is why everyone hates us” when he’s talking to spider-man to which spider-man replies “Hate’s us?” implying that Spider-man is not a victim of the public’s anti-cop hate. Also this movie has a weird fascination with killing off police captains. The blue laces on Hobie Brown Spider-punk’s shoes? In some circles that is considered a sign of having killed a cop, and when asked about his “canon event” when Hobie was interrogated by a police captain that died in his life he has a pretty nonchalant response. Did you even watch the movie? This whole film stinks with anti-cop sentiment how could you miss it? But of course you WOULD side with this woke garbage you woke lover. Why don’t you go have a nice cold refreshing glass of bud light next time you sit down to watch this spider-woke garbage.
One other (potentially) woke thing you missed. Pregnant Spider-woman (Jessica Drew), is white in the comics but black in this movie.
You’re right, and I considered that, but since it being the multiverse and the fact that I’d already called out how only intersectional characters were in respectable roles, it felt like double dipping.
They also effectively racebent Miguel. Go look up his comic book appearances and compare that to what he looks like in this movie. They made him look far more Indigenous than he was originally designed to be. Him looking so European is actually relevant to his story in the 2099 books, but I guess that doesn’t matter here.
We’re not going to be able to catch everything. That’s why we have a comments section.
Peter Parker the one and only original, and true Spiderman, who is also a straight, while, heterosexual male, is slowly but surely being erased and replaced with “stunning”, “brave”, and “diverse” Spider-people!
Please don’t say this isn’t Woke propaganda, when it actually is. There is a reason people who know call them Soyny!
But the movie is based on Miles’ story, a canon story that’s been around for ages. Peter Parker already has dozens of movies about him, a storyline about Miles is erasing Peter Parker?
What in the HELL is wrong with this biased and nitpicking review? This movie is full on woke. It is not “woke-ish” the character of Spider-punk calls a giant black hole a “metaphor for capitalism.” How is that not full woke? Not to forget to mention the trans allegory of Gwen Stacy. What were to happen if I were to take my kids to see this movie and they see the flag on her wall or the button on the police officer’s badge and then my precious little girl decides to turn into a transgender and get a double masectomy? i can’t believe that you wrote such a glowing review of this woke propaganda film. Change your rating or else this website will go the way of bud light
Also what is the deal with this “your comment is awaiting moderation” bullshite? Whatever happened to free speech? I thought that this was a website for blue-blooded freedom lovin’ patriots like me? Instead it seems like this website has just as much marxist doctrine as the rest of the internet. *sigh* and I thought I finally found a place where we would be free to speak our mind without fear of censorship. I bet whatever Joe Biden lovin’ marxists that runs this hack site is enjoying an ice cold Bud Light right now.
Thrilling, captivating, and most of all ingenious, “Across the Spider-Verse” instantly captures the spirit of the original—and surpasses it to a point of animated perfection. Yes, the major leftist talking points have been put in egregiously by Hollywood/Sony, but even their idiocy cannot squash the fantastic plot and visuals.
You’re telling me this movie gets a 81% while the Super Mario bros movie only gets 75%? And here I thought I finally found a good review site.
Michael, I love your passion but there’s no way that we’re going to always agree 100% on everything. Based on the rating criteria that we work from, where did we go wrong in your opinion (Plot/Story, Visuals/Cinematography, Performance, etc.)?
Gwen’s dad is trans not Gwen
Lol your kid isn’t gonna turn trans from seeing a flag pop up for like 2 seconds. Kids are just wanting to watch a movie. Most won’t care or even notice the “woke” elementss
Hello James, may I ask why you hate FREEDOM and AMERICA so much, that you have to point out that making fun of the british anti-freedom history is bad?
No audience reviews yet. Be the first to leave one.