SPIDER-MAN, BRAND NEW DAY
The latest Spider-man movie with Tom Holland (not the historian) directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton, written by: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Justin Kuritzkes, and based on the Marvel comic book originally developed by Stan Lee then Steve Ditko, is an outstanding movie for the following reasons.
Firstly, this instalment is sequentially consistent. That is, it follows sequentially on from the previous movie, Spider-Man - No Way Home, and also logically integrates the passage of time since that movie. Secondly, Peter Parker has continued to fight crime in New York City, and this is made clear by what I consider to be excellent writing of the screenplay by McKenna, Sommers, and Kuritzkes, who do not over-labor each of the details which subliminally inform the viewer. Some of the details they have incorporated into Spider-man’s new life are multi-dimensional. I do not mean “multi-verse” like the last disastrous Superman movie. What I mean by “multi-dimensional” is that they present Peter Parker not as a flat, cold, character. Rather, they present Peter Parker as a young man who is troubled by his former relationship with MJ; someone who has befriended A. I. Personal Assistant who monitors all his vitals and oversees the 3D printing of his new experimental pieces of needed technology; and, apart from his relational and emotional complexities - Peter is maturing physically which is transforming how his arachnoid DNA is increasingly interacting with his humanity. This “growth spurt”.
SUPERNATURAL THEMES
I found the movie’s supernatural themes fascinating. I would not be surprised if this movie doesn’t provoke many discussions about what demon possession might involve and whether telepathy can imitate it.
RELATIONSHIP TRANSITIONS
My wife and I appreciated how the movie dealt with Peter’s relationship with his former girlfriend, MJ. Rather than creating a predictable reunion of their relationship in a fairy-tale-like storyline, the movie presents the much likely end of their relationship, because, as MJ told Peter, after she realised her memory had been artificially tampered with, she was not prepared to merely pick up where they left off, because, as she said to Peter, “I don't know you.” Peter’s response to MJ’s rejection was still worthy of a super-hero: he acted like a chivalrous super-hero to MJ.
The movie goes for two-hours-twenty-minutes. This may upset those with a gold-fish attention span, but there was no superfluous screen time. It enabled the writers of the screen play to create a well-structured rich storyline that was even able to deepen the Punisher’s character complexity. The movie introduces the Punisher pursuing the same villain as Spider-man. The Punisher and Spider-man interact throughout the whole movie and in the process we discover why the Punisher is the way he is, and why he is a broken man who is looking for than vengeance and is now looking for redemption to cure his own brokenness. Their relationship becomes a deep friendship - something that both men have not had for years.
The end of the movie introduces a new relationship for Peter Parker which has the potential for helping Peter to process his end of any hope he had to reignite his relationship with MJ. In this way, the end of the movie is actually the reason for its title, brand new day. And this is one of the reasons why I really appreciated all the trailers that the producers released before the movie screened on July 31 - because unlike other trailers which actually give the plot and entire gist of a movie away, each of the trailers for this movie did not.
If you see this movie, just be aware that the Punisher swears a lot, and shoots a lot. I was really impressed with this movie and found it to have a good storyline, a great twist, well shot, well written, and well acted.
Dr. Andrew Corbett,
2nd August 2026.
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