Albany, Oregon, U.S.A. – Spider-Man: Brand New Day surpassed my expectations, delivering beyond anything I’d ever imagined.
Listen to the author read this review:
I got invested in the story because Spider-Man [Tom Holland] goes through extreme emotional turmoil after Dr. Strange cast a spell in a previous film that made everyone forget that Peter Parker was Spider-Man.
Because everyone forgot him, Spider-Man had no remaining alliances.
The effects, narrative and casting in the film prepare you for the upcoming movie Avengers: Doomsday, expected out in December.
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, filmmakers connected Avengers, Anti-Heroes and X-Men, to prepare audiences for the next Marvel installment.
Besides Spider-Man, Brand New Day includes Punisher [Jon Bernthal] and X-Men teammate Jean Grey [Sadie Sink] and cameos by Hulk [Mark Ruffalo] and Yelena Belova [Florence Pugh.]
Throughout the film is a strong undercurrent of Spider-Man / Peter Parker’s personal identity crisis. The superhero initially ignores the crucial question of who he is, but by the end, he’s got it figured out.
There is a scene in Spider-Man: Brand New Day that is integral to Peter Parker’s story. In it, Parker is fighting to get through to Jean while her assassins are attacking him.
She tells him, “People like us don’t get to live a normal life. We don’t get to have friends or family. Those people are gone. That life is over. So why don’t you just be honest with yourself? Are you Peter Parker? Or are you Spider-Man? Who are you, Spider-Man or Peter Parker?”
Peter replies “both” and metamorphoses, making his powers interchangeable after he fully accepts that the bad and the good are both parts of him.
He befriends Jean and ends up taking a bullet for her, getting shot by Punisher.
The narrative embraces the fact that no one is simply good or bad in their soul.
The film speaks to everyone who has experienced hard times, those moments when you can choose to move forward or be stuck.
He struggled with his emotions, and with being so lonely. All of this taught him that Aunt May, who raised him, was right.
Though she told him not to be so closed off, he never listened, until now. She had counseled that he needed to trust that the people in his life loved him for who he is and not because of his powers as Spider-Man.
The movie was well done, from its characters to the storyline. The narrative is relatable, and I’m glad that I made the trip to the movies.
McKenzie Andersen is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
