Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review (No Spoilers)
Internets, hello, you absolute lovelies. I’m just getting home from the Spider-Man Brand New Day world premiere, and I am so happy to report this movie knows exactly who Spider-Man is. This might be the most accurate live-action adaptation of Spider-Man to the comics to date. This is an extraordinary experience. It is so full of wonder. It is so full of heart. It is so full of awe, but most of all, it is so full of emotion. This movie is maybe my favorite Tom Holland performance, period.
It is one of my favorite Zendaya performances. It is my favorite Jacob Batalon performance, but it’s also full of so many characters that enhance the overall world and tapestry that is Spider-Man. This movie actually does some interesting things to retroactively enhance, colorize, build up characters that we’ve known for a while, and new ones we haven’t. It does a masterclass in the web that connects Spider-Man and the web that connects connects us to them. This movie is How do I even break this down? This is going to be a non-spoiler review, obviously. Read that in the title. When we do the spoiler review later in the week, I’m going to break down everything to a much higher level because there’s so much in the third act that gets to be incredibly integral to all things Spider-Man, but I’m going to keep this review to mainly the first and some of the second act.
So, completely non-spoiler, but I will say I think that No Way Home is an incredible film because it knows how to to introduce concepts like Uncle Ben, but utilizing Aunt May. Like, Aunt May becomes that almost Uncle Ben role with the power and responsibility speech, but it also makes, in a lot of ways, Toby and Andrew the Uncle Ben figures, the brothers, and all those things. This movie, and then, of course, the villains. So, the villains in No Way Home are the big centerpiece. This film’s kind of the inversion of that. This film is the best use of the greater MCU as a solo character with world building in the MCU that I’ve seen since Captain America: Civil War. This movie completely understands a full lived-in universe, but it never strays from being a Spider-Man movie. A lot of people consider Cap Brave New World, Cap Civil War a very much Avengers film.
I still see it as a Captain America film, but I totally understand that perspective because of how big that movie gets. This movie, however, gets really big, uses lots of MCU characters, but you never for a second would think it is not a Spider-Man film. This is a Spider-Man film, but it knows how much Spider-Man is integral to the Marvel Comics Universe. But what it does is it tells the story it wants to tell with Spider-Man. This arc for Spider-Man is amazing. His loneliness, his isolation, the importance of connection, all of these details for Spider-Man that are so true since the beginning of the comic book. It tells those stories, but it knows exactly the characters in the MCU to pull from to allow him to feel those equalizer moments adjusting to feel his growth as a character. I think this movie makes Punisher better than he’s ever been.
I think this movie makes Hulk better than he’s been in a long time. I think this movie makes every character that we had in the Jon Watts trilogy even more interesting. I love the relationship with Ned and Peter, and I love that this movie does a lot of things that build upon that in fascinating ways. I love the relationship with MJ and the fact that Tom and Zendaya, they love each other so much, you can feel that. This movie builds upon that, and you can still feel just that that that connection in such a fascinating way. And they’ve grown as actors. I think like I said, Tom Holland between the impossible and his journey as Spider-Man, I’ve been such a fan of this guy as an actor. But, this is using his Oscar caliber, like The Impossible is a movie that got just critical acclaim and him as an actor in it.
This movie is bringing all of that, but to Spider-Man. His passion for the character, his devout love for what the character means to people, all on display all on display. Sorry, it is late. But, also Zendaya is I mean, she’s Zendaya. Uh you know, Euphoria, a lot of people get to see her flex very different acting muscles, but also Challengers. Also, the drama. Here, she’s bringing all of that strength, but enhancing MJ. Because of their relationship, it enhances both of them.
This movie is as much about relationships and friendships and closeness as No Way Home is about ramifications and consequence and scope and scale. This movie does so much to show such a great relationship between Punisher and Spider-Man. I honestly, I’ve been saying it from the beginning, Punisher is a character that works in his own comic books in an R-rated way. He works in other team books in PG, PG-13 ways. Punisher was in the Spider-Man animated series in the ’90s, and he managed to be a G-rated character, and they made it work. This is an incredible PG-13 take on Punisher, and the dynamic between him and Spider-Man, I might like even more than the Spider-Man and Daredevil dynamic in No Way Home or the Spider-Man and Doctor Strange dynamic in uh you know, also No Way Home or the Iron Man dynamic in Homecoming. This is probably my favorite Spider-Man and hero anti-hero relationship in the MCU, but it’s also a fascinating way to look at Frank differently and have that dynamic change everything entirely. Hulk is everything we’ve wanted for quite a while with Hulk, and it’s very, very well utilized for the story.
It’s incredible for an action sequence or two. It is incredible for showing the MCU being lived in. It’s It’s giving us a lot of depth in time. The MCU’s been around for 18 years. Hulk’s been there since 2008. He’s been recast, obviously, but the character it utilizes all of that weight of the character in a fascinating way. So, this review is largely me talking about the positive relationships, and that is so essential. But, they’ve also done a really good job with the villains.
If you’ve seen the marketing, this has an array of awesome set pieces and villains and moments and dynamics and all these things, but it goes back to the heart a lot, and then our big bad gets to be absolutely incredible because of that. So, this movie never stops being about emotion. This movie never stops being about action. This movie moves at a fever clip. I would say the first act does have a little bit of a warming up period while we’re adjusting to everything it’s jostling, but it is a very, very minor little note of like, “Okay, you just got to adjust to how much it’s juggling at once.” Because it is telling many, many storylines. It is doing so many things, and it never lets off the gas. But, there’s a moment about 20 minutes in, 15 minutes in, it’s pretty early, where I just settle into what the movie’s aesthetic is going to be, and I’m just happy for another 2 and 1/2 hours. I think this is the best shot MCU movie since phase one, maybe ever.
This film is stunning. It is gorgeous. Um I think his last name is I forget the the Paul No. His name escapes me. The cinematographer, absolutely incredible. He also shot Shang-Chi. He also shot Short Term 12. I think the directing in this I mean, Destin Daniel Cretton, what he did for Shang-Chi, the use of action and and sheer emotional bandwidth growth in the character of Shang-Chi that I didn’t connect to a lot in the comic books, is insane.
And then he doubled down and made Wonderman one of the best dramas with comedy I’ve seen on TV out of the MCU. Here, he’s putting all of that together. Here, he’s doing all of that with a lot of love for the comic books. Here, he’s doing that with an absolute complete understanding of the character. This movie, and I and I say this at this point in the review because I don’t I it to get misconstrued. You’ve heard all of this positivity. What I’m about to say is an absolute positive, but it could be misconstrued. This is the best Saturday morning cartoon you will ever see in live action, and that is high praise.
That is the biggest glowing accolade I could give for a movie of this scale and number of characters and just sheer scope. It is 3:00 in the morning right now. And I am actively giddy to be talking about you with Spider-Man because this movie has reminded me of why I love Spider-Man. And I just got back from 5 days of Comic-Con. This was like a day six. I am exhausted, but the movie has filled me with so much just joy and passion and wonder. And if you’re a comic fan, you are going to see so many moments replicated in all new ways. If you’re not a comic fan and you just love the movies, you’re going to experience so much of the character that you’ve not really gotten to see or perspectives on the character we haven’t quite gotten yet.
If you’re a fan of the home trilogy, you’re going to find another layer to those movies and you’re going to find another depth in this take on the character. If you’re a fan of the Toby movies, this absolutely has Sam Raimi’s sensibilities. This absolutely has a lot of that silver age color and panache, but it’s more of a bronze age story. This movie has Andrew Garfield S. quips and swinging and body mechanics. It is truly, much like his suit, the culmination of the Spider-Man that came before him, but in a brand new way for a brand new day. It is I think my favorite live-action Spider-Man movie. I need to see it a second time.
I need to give it a little bit to like marinate. I don’t want to have recency bias. I don’t want people to think that’s why I’m saying it. It is everything I love about Spider-Man. It’s about community. It’s about family. It’s about friendships. It’s about what it means to be good.
It’s about understanding. It’s so much and there is so much more. I don’t know how long this review is. I think it’s like 10 minutes. I need to do like a 20-minute spoiler review because this is all stuff that I can touch on with your knowledge of the trailers. Once I can touch on way more with the spoilers and stuff, it just just opens up doors I’m excited to explore with you guys. So, this movie is everything that you needed to be. It’s everything you hoped it would be.
In my opinion, like I said, the best live-action Spider-Man. I am gobsmacked. I’m so happy. I I’m a guy who learned to read with Spider-Man, who named his cat Spidey Cat, who got into this job because of Spider-Man and loving Spider-Man and comics and all this in general. I’m so happy to report this is that special. So, um it enhances all the characters. It’s got great performances. It’s got a great story.
It’s got genuine tension. It moves at a feverish clip. It is everything you want. Uh can’t wait to talk about the spoilers. I keep trying to dance, but we’re going to do spoilers later in the week. Um I’m so happy. Spider-Man brand new day. What a good day it was.
Final Verdict
What a good day it is. I can’t wait to see it again. Let me know in the comments what you think, what you’ve heard. Let me know uh who you’re excited to see. Let me know what you think of this depth of emotion relationships. Let me know what you think. Just let’s have a conversation in the comments below cuz community and friendship and all of that is very important to the character, but also important to staying sane in our reality. So, let’s get in those comments.
Let’s have a conversation about Spider-Man. One of my favorite things to do. I will see you very soon. I’m doing tons of Spider-Man coverage. I’m going to do Easter eggs. I’m going to do comic references. I’m going to do the spoiler review.
