Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

I was absolutely blown away by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse so I was already looking forward to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse but all of the early buzz made me even more excited!  My nephew and I saw it last night and the hype is real because it is amazing!  Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is adjusting to life as Spider-Man but is struggling to balance these responsibilities with the expectations of his mother Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and father Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry).  Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) is facing similar struggles as Spider-Woman in her universe because her father George (Shea Whigham) is hunting Spider-Woman for the murder of Peter Parker.  When her identity is revealed to her father, she is reluctantly admitted to the Spider Society, an organization charged with protecting the Spider-Verse, by Miguel O'Hara/ Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew/ Spider-Woman (Issa Rae).  When Miles encounters the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a scientist altered by the explosion of the collider at Alchemax, Gwen joins him in pursuit of this villain to another universe where they are aided by Pavitr Prabhakar/ Spider-Man India (Karan Soni) and Hobie Brown/ Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya).  However, events in this universe show Miles that he must defy all of the other Spider-People to protect those he loves from the Spot. This is one of the best sequels I've seen because it expands the ideas explored in the first movie about who can be Spider-Man to include what it means to be Spider-Man and the stakes for each of the characters are much higher.  I found the narrative to be incredibly compelling because, just when I thought I knew where things were going, my expectations were subverted in the best possible way.  There is also a greater emotional weight to the tone and all of the voice actors really deliver, particularly Isaac.  The images on the screen are absolutely dazzling and, as with the first movie, I loved all of the different styles of animation used for each of the characters, particularly the watercolor palette used for Gwen and the cut-and-paste style of punk rock posters for Spider-Punk (my favorite character).  Finally, all of the Easter eggs are so much fun!  I laughed out loud every time I spotted something (I loved the Lego Spider-Man) but for every one I found my nephew, who loves the comics, found ten more!  We both loved this movie so much (go see it!) and we can't wait for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse next year!