I’ve been a Spider-Man fan since I was a child. I even have photo evidence of me hitting the Spider-Man pose next to my Spider-Man toy. From that, you can definitely understand what this article will be discussing: the immaculate Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie, which has now become the movie of the summer. Getting to witness a grounded, street-level Spider-Man movie was everything that I asked for and more. While I did say Spider-Man: Brand New Day was immaculate, there were some aspects of the movie that held it back a bit, but not in a bad way. By the way: there will be spoilers in this! Lots of them! Please don’t continue reading if you have not watched the movie yet!
Let’s begin with what I loved, and that’s everything. Seeing Spider-Man/Peter Parker depressed was the perfect start. Now, for those who are reading, you might be thinking, “Why would you want him to be depressed? He just lost everything important to him!” Well, that’s how we as an audience can relate to not just Spider-Man, but also to the human Peter Parker is. Now listen, I love Tom Holland, and I used to be a big defender of him as Spider-Man since the beginning. That being said, his acting is great, but the direction he was given for his Spider-Man trilogy was not the best. When we were shown that it was Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who gave Peter the suit and all of his technology, it didn’t feel like a street-level Spider-Man movie. It just felt as though we were following someone who had the suit. I never really got to connect with the human emotions that Peter struggles with when balancing being a hero and protecting the people he cares about when they know his secret. All of that changed when Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, took the mantle. He understood not just who Spider-Man is, but also who Peter Parker is. We get to sit with Peter as he struggles to navigate being Spider-Man all on his own, no Tony Stark to help him, no MJ (Zendaya) in his life, not even his best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) remembering him. It really felt grounded and was an emotional rollercoaster for me sitting in the theater. Besides the direction, I really loved the cinematography in this film, especially when Spider-Man was fighting The Hand; I could not stop geeking about the way the camera moved with Spider-Man. Especially getting a POV as though we were Spider-Man – beautiful. Now, getting more into the spoiler aspect of this review: the amazing villain. Sadie Sink was the perfect choice for Jean Grey, and I couldn’t be any more excited about what they are going to do with her now that the mutant saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is upon us. The last two things I loved about this movie were the chemistry between Peter and MJ, and the bond between Peter and Frank. From the hilarious jokes to the emotional moments, there was such a great connection between all three.
Now, moving on from the best moments, I also wanted to discuss the aspects of the film that did feel like cons to me. Although I did praise Sink being Jean Grey, I kind of wish we actually got a Spider-Man villain for this movie. Now, I know the counterargument people will be making: “Well, since we got Spider-Man: No Way Home, we couldn’t get any of the original villains because he already knows how to fight them.” Yes, obviously he cannot fight the villains we have seen, but when it was announced that Tombstone (Krondon), Scorpion (Michael Mando), and more from the Sinister Six, which are essentially all the Spider-Man villains, were cast, I was excited that we might be getting to see Spider-Man up against an actual Spider-Man villain. Of course, due to the new saga we’re jumping into, we needed to introduce our mutants, and I won’t lie, having Jean Grey was a perfect choice from the X-Men. But still, I really need an actual Spider-Man villain for Holland’s time as Spider-Man down the line, please. Next, this may be more of a me-thing, but I personally am ready to let go of MJ and Ned in this universe. It is nothing against the actors – Zendaya is a queen, let’s not get that twisted – but I’m ready to let them go. From the beginning of Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy, we knew who MJ was, but we never knew her hopes or dreams; we never knew her as a person. I wasn’t really the biggest fan of that. I wanted to know more about MJ rather than just her being Spider-Man’s love interest. So, I think after this, now that Ned and MJ don’t have any of their memories about being friends with Peter, I think it’s best to say that we can now let them go and move away from them.
Overall, this movie means so much to me, and I can’t wait for it to release on streaming so I can rewatch it every single second. If I had to place this movie on my Spider-Man list, I would place it third, behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with Spider-Man 2 being in first place. I cannot wait to see what Cretton and Holland do with Spider-Man down the line, and I hope we get more comic-to-screen moments that will have me geeking out in the theater.