Spider-Man Brand New Day A Review

 

So, I just saw the new Spider-Man movie, and I thought it was a blast. It was actually excellent. Not a perfect movie, but still excellent. This will be a partial spoiler review, so if you have not seen the movie, you might want to watch it first before reading through to the end. I will let you know when spoilers are about to come up.

 Spider-Man Brand New Day gives us something we all want from a superhero movie: A simple story about a guy just trying to do the right thing, and not necessarily getting rewarded for it. This strikes at the heart of the superhero genre; these heroes are not in it for glory, or accolades, or prestige, but because they just want to do the right thing. At least generally speaking they are, and Peter Parker is the archetype of the selfless guy who just wants to make his neighbourhood a safer place for the ordinary folk.

We don’t always need there to be a world-ending threat in these movies. We don’t need every superhero movie to be a mini-avengers movie where the entire Avengers team plays a role (though a couple do turn up in this movie). Sometimes we just want to see a decent hearted bloke kicking bad guys arses straight into prison. Brand-New Day gives us that, and we need more simple movies like that.

Even though this movie is simple, it is not without heart. Now, before I address that, I should note that there are many reviews going around online, especially on YouTube that are saying that this movie has too much in it. I even heard many of the reviewers I trusted the most make this accusation. But I just simply think they are wrong. Every plot device in the movie intersected, neatly. The various threads may seem to clash early on, but the director sowed them up very nicely as the movie goes on. By the end none of them are left hanging.

I think sometimes people just make criticisms of movies based on the reputation of their wider franchises. A lot of Marvel and D.C. movies are incredibly bloated, and a little chaotic. I feel like the later Thor movies and Guardian’s of the Galaxy movies suffered from that problem. But this one does not. It has a lot of slower moments that focus on character, and show us what Peter is going through, after having sacrificed everything he loved in the previous movie.

For contrast, I watched Lethal Weapon 4 not long after watching Spider-Man, and that movie was like the film equivalent of ADD on steroids. I was actually shocked how over-the-top it was. It was relentless, in your face, and filled with too much. It gave you no down moments to catch your breath. It has a fun pay off, but a lot of the characters in the movie are just obnoxious. It was actually interesting to see a Marvel movie, which is a type of movie known for being over-the-top hyperactive entertainment, actually have more down time and serious character moments compared to an action movie from the 90’s. In fact, in many ways the Marvel movie format that people have come to criticize, really models itself off the buddy cop movies of the 90’s. But some went even further with it.

Also, this movie let’s serious moments land, without feeling like it needs to instantly tell a joke afterwards, which is good.

As I said this movie has heart.

Firstly, it had a meaningful primary theme: That a man or woman who isolates themself cannot be fully human. Or will even become inhuman. This is a necessary message in this day and age. Following people on social media is not replacement for true human connection. I have a feeling this movie is doing so well, especially amongst, Zoomers, because many of them can relate to feeling like many of their relationships just exist via online spaces. Us millennials can remember a world without the internet being a part of everyone’s everyday life. Many of us did not have computers till we were in high school. But in many ways the younger generations have been robbed of that world. Having Peter seeking connection through the online space, because he feels alone, is something a lot of people would relate to today.

(If you do, go to church, at least you will meet people).

The movie also highlights how people who feel like they carry a heavy burden can choose to isolate themselves in an unhealthy way. The longer they carry that burden alone, the more it can isolate them, and actually diminish their humanity. People were created to flourish in true community. It smooths off our edges and helps us handle our burdens. Pastor’s, teachers, and other leaders could do well to meditate on this, and not seek to do everything on their own, or carry their burdens alone. It can lead you to an unhealthy place.

(Again, join a good church, and build community, there are less and less places you can still do that today).

Prior to watching the movie, I thought it was a shame they did not move on from Zendaya's MJ and Peter’s friend Ned. I found most of their scenes in the previous movies at best neutral, and sometimes annoying. But after seeing the movie, I have to say it was clever how they used them both to add emotional weight to Peter’s story line. Well, clever and a bit lazy.

What I mean by that is that if they moved on to other love interests and other side-kick friends, they would have had to do some extra leg work to create that emotional depth. Whereas, by relying on everybody’s knowledge of Peter’s history with MJ and Ned, they can get you invested in what he is going through much easier. It also helps keep the fans happy who loved the interactions of all three of those characters in the previous movies. So, it was clever.  

In fact, I think Spider-Man does so well, precisely because people care about Holland’s Peter Parker, and Zendaya’s MJ, and they want to see what happens next in their adventures. Whatever you think of Henry Cavill or David Corenswet as Superman, it was obviously a mistake for Gunn to just end the Cavill era and start again. People like legacy characters played by legacy actors for a reason, they have come to identify with them over time. Marvel has used this nostalgia well with Spider-Man, Wolverine and other characters. The way this movie went, it naturally sets up a new possible trilogy where Spider-Man has to get back some of his old life. Almost like a soft reboot, which is clever serial storytelling. The exact sort of thing they do in a 7 season T.V. to keep people coming back.

It needs to be said that Tom Holland nailed it as Spider-Man and Peter Parker. He captured the honour and struggle of the delta's hero journey well. What I mean by delta, is the ordinary guy. Not the Alpha, but a guy who just wants to do his job and do it well. Guys like this don’t necessarily get all the accolades in society, but they are the kinds of guys who make everybody else’s lives easier, because they make sure things are done well. Peter Parker is the ultimate delta superhero, who just wants to be with the one love of his life, but also wants her to be safe. And he doesn’t seek glory for himself.

Ok, time to bring in some spoilers.

The Punisher is a big part of this movie, played by Jon Bernthal. He played well off Spider-Man in every scene he is in. I would say that we need more PG - 13 Punisher buddy cop style movies with Spider-Man. Their chemistry is great. And who needs any other filth fests like the Deadpool movies? No, thanks. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to see The Punisher do a proper punisher movie, but having him play of Spider-Man reminded me of some of the best buddy cop movies of the 90’s, and I miss that sort of movie, at least when it is done well.

The scenes with the new Black Widow were just awkward and not really necessary. They could have written them out and the movie would not have missed them, or her.

The Hulk was actually the Hulk again, for a moment. Watching the Punisher come at him with a machine gun pretty funny. But it works in the scene.

The villain, Jean Gray, in this movie was pretty good. She even managed to emulate the demon from Denzel Washington’s Fallen at points in this movie, which was both creepy, and done very well to show what Pete was up against. But there needed to be more accountability. She kills heaps of people throughout the movie, and then the movie just ends with her being let off scot-free because she did it all to try and find her sister. Marvel clearly has an accountability problem with female villains, because this same sort of thing has happened in some of their other female villain story-lines. Sure, Jean Gray saves Peter’s life, but that does not bring back the people she murdered. Also, why did she not just stake out the person she was after and go straight through him to achieve her goal? Probably, because then the movie would have taken 20 minutes.

So, as I said, the movie is not perfect, but it is good. We can overlook some imperfect plot points. After all, without Indiana Jones the Nazis would not have found the Ark of the Covenant, but we overlooked that element of the movie and still had fun watching it. Right?

The CG was good. The acting was good. And I would say that this is the best Spider-Man movie since Spider-Man 2 with Toby McGuire. You can’t beat that train scene in that movie. No scene in any comic book movie comes close, in my opinion. However, this movie still did a very good job. In fact, this movie was clearly in part inspired by that movie, but instead of losing his powers, Peter’s powers are enhanced, because he is losing himself because of his isolation. Toby McGuire’s Spider-Man even gets a mention. Hence, this movie does have some of the same beats at Spider-Man’s best outing so far.

All round; this was a good time. And it is good to see a string of great male led hero movies doing well this year. Maybe Hollywood is learning its lessons.

I will be doing a video review on my YouTube channel tonight, as well. Here.