Review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I feel like a lot of my blog introductions, especially when it comes to movies, have been lamenting on the fact I don’t have a ton of time lately. I used to work as a film critic (which, in fact, was so incredibly underpaid that I now make more off of this blog’s display ads than I ever did publishing anywhere else), and then when I was in graduate school I was writing a lot about film, so I used to watch so many movies.

I haven’t been lately because I work an 8-5, but one of the few joys that keep me going in the movie world is my AMC A List subscription. For my non-American friends out there, AMC is a domestic theater chain in the States, and for a relatively affordable subscription price you can see four movies a week.

And sometimes I’m able to see the newest releases on the best screens possible for what I essentially see as free. I’ve seen so many movies through my A List that I feel like AMC has pretty much funded my hobbies and interests, and it’s something I even consider doing when I’m in New York. The Empire 25 is one of my favorite theaters to see movies at, ironically.

That said, my sister and I wanted to see the new Spider-Man movie when it came out, so we went to the theater on a Sunday night. It was a packed house, as this was opening weekend, which made it interesting with certain reactions—and when the guy next to me started snoring really loudly.

Let’s get into the review!

With no one able to remember who he is, Peter Parker/Spider-Man finds himself losing his identity and the essence of who he is as a person.

This movie takes place after the events of the previous movie, where Dr. Strange’s spell takes place and no one is able to remember Peter Parker. With his existence pretty much erased, he spends his days building out his new Manhattan lair, staking out Ned and MJ’s adventures at MIT through social media, and trying to save the city from the crime that seems to pop out of every corner.

Four years pass, with MJ and Ned graduating from college, and Peter finds himself in a new dilemma. When he goes after a tank in the street going for the Department of Damage Control, he follows after it with Frank Castle in pursuit. When the tank gets into the DODC building, he finds out the driver is possessed, and whoever is doing it jumps from mind to mind.

That person helps the Scorpion, who Spider-Man has apprehended before, escape. After talking to the police, he seeks out Yelena Belova in Brighton Beach, who tells him that the DODC has been cyberhacked by someone looking for “Vmax.” They have no idea what it is, and Peter stops by the head of the DODC, Bill, to ask him about it.

Bill also has no idea what he’s talking about. Right after this he spots Ned at a bodega and follows him home, discovering that Ned and MJ are having a homecoming party in their new apartment. He talks to them, despite neither of them remembering him, but is heartbroken to see MJ kiss another guy. He falls asleep on his apartment floor and wakes up the next morning in a web; his suit system tells him that his spider senses are taking over.

He finds the Scorpion on the streets, who is now possessed. Peter snaps with his new instincts and beats the Scorpion up and injures a cop in the process, showing how he’s becoming out of control. Once he realizes what he’s done, he leaves the scene and finds Bruce Banner at his new college. There, he asks about how he can create an inhibitor device similar to the one Bruce wears to suppress the Hulk.

Peter tries to make his own, but it keeps overheating and he falls to his instincts. The telepath, who possesses other people, finds Peter then and tells him he’s going after MJ, so he goes to her apartment. He takes her to a rooftop, where she says that she remembers him and goes for a kiss, but then the telepath reveals that it’s her in MJ’s body. She jumps off the building, and while Peter is able to save her, he discovers who the telepath is.

He then takes MJ to be with Frank Castle and completes his inhibitor with MJ’s MIT studies. He sets up a citywide system to track the telepath’s face, then finds out her name is Jean Grey. The next morning his alarms go off and he leaves for the DODC headquarters, where she is attacking with the Hulk. Castle follows after him at MJ’s request, even though he gets possessed and leaves Spider-Man to fight the Hulk alone.

There, Spider-Man is able to put an inhibitor on Jean Grey after defeating the Hulk, and she’s subdued and arrested. Before she passes out she mentions the name Sara, and Bill claims it’s an old colleague. Peter returns home to MJ, who found his letter, and she realizes the truth of why he’s around. He tells her the truth and says he loves her, but then MJ tells him that she can’t love someone she doesn’t know at all.

She then asks him to take her home, but she invites him up for coffee. He then bonds with Ned, but it’s when they’re chatting MJ says she can’t remember anything from when she’s kidnapped. Peter realizes that this means Bill was lying, then he goes back to Yelena. Yelena reveals that Sara was Jean’s sister who was kidnapped by the DODC.

At the same time, Bill begins experimenting with Jean. It becomes more and more aggressive, and when she looks up, she sees Vmax on a vent on the ceiling. She realizes this is where her sister died, and her abilities become unlocked and she’s able to project all the way back into Manhattan. Peter is able to enter the DODC despite the force field, and she possesses the ninjas to try and stop him.

As she prepares to end Bill, Peter accepts the spider part of him and takes down the ninjas. He then allows Jean to come into his mind for the first time, and she meets Aunt May and discovers how she tells him (and her in the moment) to accept their abilities and be loved. Peter tells her that he’ll be there for her just as Frank shoots from Manhattan, then takes the bullet for Jean.

The wound is supposed to be fatal, but it’s thanks to Jean that Peter lives through it. He’s in critical condition but survives, and Frank helps him sneak out of the hospital when he wakes up. The movie ends with him introducing himself to Ned and they do their special handshake, giving hope that their friendship might be revived.

The post-credits scene shows Ned’s Spider-Man tracker in space, which I think might be reference to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man? I wasn’t too sure what that was about, but it was pretty simple.

Overall Thoughts

This movie has more emotional beats than expected! I thought Peter’s storyline was appropriately angsty for what it was, especially considering he’s in complete isolation and pretty much just throws himself into his work in order to avoid his feelings. Reminds me of some people I know in real life.

I think I was looking forward to more action, although the fight scenes in this movie are pretty solid. Because of the more emotional beats I do wish that it was trimmed a bit more—I think the guy falling asleep next to me towards the end was an indicator of how I was starting to feel. It was perfect because he started snoring as they showed Peter with the oxygen mask.

All in all though I enjoyed the moments with MJ the most. I think that her honesty is incredibly admirable in itself, and something that propelled the plot forward for a future movie in a way that is really productive. Maybe she’ll learn to love him someday for who he is now, but he has to learn to move on in some ways.

Go see this one if you’re interested! I kind of wished I waited because of my audience—people were constantly talking and doing other things while watching the movie, which I hate. I find more mainstream and popular movies tend to attract a worse crowd, and this was one of them for me.

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