Is Spider-Man: Brand New Day Any Good?

[00:02] Just got home from Spider-Man brand new day. I have never seen the theater that packed. I genuinely I haven't. Not only was the parking lot to the theater full, the parking lot at the business next door was full and I ended up having to

[00:15] park at a business next door to that business because there was just no spots left. And I got my tickets today, which means the only seats left were front row seats. So, you know, I was planted in that swamp ass throne, staring straight

[00:32] up like I was about to be abducted by aliens. So, that's my fault. I should aliens. So, that's my fault. I should have anticipated that, but [ __ ] zoinks. Crazy how many people are showing out for Spider-Man. Anyway, is

[00:46] the movie any good? Yeah, I think it's very good. Do I think it's the best Spider-Man movie? Like right now, the glaze is it's going nuclear about how made, the best Spider-Man since Spider-Man 2, that kind of thing. I

[01:01] personally wouldn't go that far. There's a lot to like about this movie. And So, here's your spoiler warning right now. That's me you tickling on your spoiler nipples there. The reason it's getting compared to Spider-Man 2 so much

[01:16] is because of some similarities with what Tom Holland's Peter Parker is going through in this film. Kind of mirroring what Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man went what Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man went through in Sam Ramy's trilogy. In that

[01:30] in here, he's dealing with a lot of emotional disconnection from his friends as a result of what happened in No Way Home. And it's weighing on his psyche so heavily. Years have gone by and he has

[01:42] heavily. Years have gone by and he has isolated himself because he is just he's everything alone to keep the people he cares about safe and it is taking its cares about safe and it is taking its toll on him. So he is really starting to

[01:54] toll on him. So he is really starting to succumb to that desperate need for human connection but forcing himself to abstain. And now the spider part of him

[02:06] is starting to take over. And he's getting like these new uh power boosts that are also coming at the expense of like his normal humanity. And as such, he's even able to shoot organic webs now, which I [ __ ] loved. I thought

[02:21] really like the way they explore this because I thought after No Way Home, they were going to take a really easy safe path of like connecting Peter with his friends again. Like, oh, they forgot me. I I wiped everyone's memories. But

[02:37] if I just go say, "Hey, it's me, Peter." And then, you know, wave at them, it'll jog their memory like, "Oh, I love this guy." That kind of thing. And then MJ will fall in love with him again. Ned will be his best bro again [ __ ] butt

[02:51] chugging in the shower and all that. No, this movie doesn't do that. It goes in a much like it sticks to its guns. It does not just give Peter the easy way uh to not just give Peter the easy way uh to reconnect. And in fact, it is really

[03:06] holding its ground in that aspect because there is a scene here where MJ spoil everything by the way. I'm not just dumping everything here. So like I'm not just ruining the whole movie for you. MJ is in trouble and when the main

[03:22] you. MJ is in trouble and when the main villain uh starts using her to really get under Peter's skin and in an effort to keep her safe, he puts MJ with Frank Castle to protect her. Frank Castle actually had a pretty sizable role in

[03:37] to be here in like a big way, but he is. I will say that this is a very neutered Punisher. I never actually finished the show, not because I didn't like it. It's just much like Daredevil. I don't know. I just dropped it somewhere along the

[03:50] Eventually, I will go back and watch it. But this is a very different Punisher than you are probably expecting. And in fact, he's kind of used as like almost a like buddy cop dynamic with Spider-Man where they're like bickering and it

[04:05] derivative like their relationship. They have really good chemistry and I thought the movie comes from. I thought for the most part it did well without being obnoxious. I really did kind of like their relationship. Even though this

[04:18] Punisher version is like Weeny Hut Jr. Punisher, like I didn't have a huge like a big fan of the Punisher and the way John Bernthal in particular has been portraying him in the series, this might be like kind of not what you'd want to

[04:31] see for it. But I thought it worked well for the movie, so I don't have like a huge issue there. But anyway, MJ is uh in this safe location with Frank and Spider-Man. And when Spider-Man leaves, she finds that

[04:47] note that Peter had written that kind of explains the whole situation, why she doesn't remember him. And she reads that note, learns that these two were, you note, learns that these two were, you know, in love so deeply, so close, and

[05:00] what Peter did, the ultimate sacrifice to keep her safe. She reads that, and moment where she's like, "Ah, I remember everything. I love you, Peter." No. In everything. I love you, Peter." No. In fact, she's like, "Hey, that's just kind

[05:13] fact, she's like, "Hey, that's just kind of not me." like that girl is not me. I don't have those memories. I don't know you. I've never met you. I don't have any of these experiences with you. And like and it's not in a cold way where

[05:26] Like it's a very understandable perspective. Like this is a complete stranger that she only met hours ago that apparently they had like a whole life together for you know this whole history. She doesn't know any of it. So,

[05:40] like reciprocate those feelings? And she's like really sympathizing with Peter about how hard that must be. But the truth is she just doesn't [ __ ] know you, bro. Like, and that's just the brass tax. And it's not like a hopeless

[05:55] thing. The door is still left open for them to like, you know, get close again and fall in love again, especially with the way the movie ends. Like, they very clearly plant that seed. But I do appreciate that they didn't just

[06:09] instantly, you know, overwrite such a huge weighted decision from the last movie that had such an emotional impact. I think they explore it well. I think they really do a good job of looking at Peter Parker and like what this

[06:23] isolation, this self-imposed isolation is doing to him. And I also I think the because the first half of the film and again this is why it gets compared so closely to like Sam Ramy's is because it feels much more grounded as like the

[06:37] friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He's fighting Scorpion, you know, he's fighting the Hand Tombstone. Granted, there's not like a ton of scenes with these characters, but it is cool to see it and it feels very much like a comic

[06:50] really good. I think there were some very creative shots when it comes to his action. And I thought they [ __ ] crushed that. So like the first half, I have no complaints at all. I thought it was very solid. But somewhere along the

[07:03] way, I I think they started to lose their footing a little bit. And for me, I think the biggest symptom of that is their need to bring in Bruce Banner. Like it makes sense why Peter would go to him because he has the inhibitor and

[07:18] what he's going through. He wants to like pick his brain about how like can thing. But of course, he doesn't like But that's how Bruce gets brought into it. And that's subsequently how Hulk

[07:31] it. And that's subsequently how Hulk gets brought into it cuz Hulk Hulk Mania is running wild, brother. Hulk smash. They bring out Hulk where Spider-Man fights Hulk. And the Punisher also fights Hulk, which that was that was a

[07:45] really packed an extra oomph where the Hulk was really bothered by him, even though the Hulk would just [ __ ] one tap him. Insta Gibb the Punisher there, your disbelief a little bit there. But yeah, it felt like they brought in the

[08:00] the Hulk because that's a really big draw. Like, who doesn't want to see Spider-Man fight the Hulk? I don't think it was like a really great excuse to bring him in and I don't think it hit super hard and he's dismissed very

[08:16] quickly and never mentioned again. He has like two and a I'll say two and a half scenes and one of them is just an allout fight really good-looking scene. I think it's a very hype fight, but then afterwards

[08:28] they just forget about him, which makes sense for the movie to not have him be like a central character in it. I get it, but like why even bring him in in the first place for it? Like I feel like I I just didn't love narratively how he

[08:43] played into it. I do like the fight though to like I appreciate the fight. think they did a good job there. And then the other thing that I like I'm then the other thing that I like I'm kind of lukewarm on is Gan Gray. So

[08:56] kind of lukewarm on is Gan Gray. So Sadie Sync plays Gan Gray and I think it's an interesting take on Jean, but I don't think all of it really but I don't think all of it really lands. So Gan in this movie, she has the

[09:09] ability to possess people and she has the ability to hop from person to person hopping around and trying to find information and trying to find something called V-Max, which she believes ties into her sister in some capacity with

[09:25] where she's been taken. Her sister and her share the same ability. And her sister was kidnapped by the Department of Damage Control to basically weaponize of Damage Control to basically weaponize her. And that's the motivation behind

[09:39] Gan Gray going on this like rampage, so to so to speak. And I think all of that's fine. And I think the performance from Sades Sync as Gan Gray is also solid. I just don't, like I said, I'm not

[09:53] trying to just ruin the entire movie. I don't really like how it ends with Gan don't really like how it ends with Gan Gray here. Uh, without getting too Gray here. Uh, without getting too specific, she goes into Peter Parker's

[10:07] mind and she has this big, you know, like come to Jesus moment. She gets to, you know, basically talk with Aunt May and Aunt May really touches her heart which leads to like some some big stuff happening.

[10:21] happening. But but why? She not too long ago also But but why? She not too long ago also went into Frank Castle's mind. And Frank went into Frank Castle's mind. And Frank Castle's background, his lore is

[10:33] extraordinarily sad and tugging on the heartstrings. And Jean kind of makes it a joke like, "Oo man, it's a dirty in here. You got some bad stuff that happened." So for all the loss he experienced and

[10:46] all the loss he experienced and everything he went through, it's like a gross stuff in here like and kind of like making like a quick little quip about it. And she also goes into Bruce's head, which I would say is far like

[11:02] head, which I would say is far like darker and a lot of like very emotional things that I think probably would have resonated with Gan. probably would have resonated with Gan. I mean, like Bruce openly talked in a

[11:15] trying to kill himself and like everything that he's experienced and he has experienced loss too. like she went into some like really like dark places.

[11:27] I would say Peter Parker's probably not even like the top one there, but his is the only one that for some reason hits home where she like actually cared. And of course, like it does make sense for the narrative here, especially like with

[11:41] like applies to what Jean's gone through. But like again, I feel like through as well, probably would have been able to get something similar along

[11:53] the way there too, but she kind of just wrote them off as like jokes or like doesn't take them seriously. So, I found that to be a little odd. Again, I'm not anything, which is why I'm still talking a little vaguely about it. Like, I don't

[12:08] any means. Like, I do think it was a solid villain. I just don't really buy where it ends with her and how it really gets there at the finish line. Now,

[12:20] positive here, but I think a lot of people might view as a negative is this movie does not feel like it is just fodder for the next MCU thing where it needs to feed so much into the next movie, like bleed everything over to the

[12:34] next movie. This movie really feels like very self-contained, which I really where it doesn't feel like this is just going to be like another assignment in the MCU homework to catch up for the next MCU thing so you know where

[12:48] is nice that this movie doesn't feel like it is constantly trying to like shove like these new plots that are going to be explored in later ones. Pretty much everything it introduces in here it is tackling in here. Obviously

[13:04] it does still set up for where things go later. Like that is still there. But this movie doesn't feel like, oh, that thing that was there for a split second it's going to be fully explored in the next thing. That's not really here,

[13:19] which is nice. But I know a lot of people do like that. And maybe you'll walk away from this thinking that the scale was like too small, like too contained instead of like apocalyptic worldending stakes like a lot of MCU

[13:33] movies always love to throw in there. This one's much more localized. Like, yeah, Gan Gray could be like a worldending threat, but she's really not in this movie. This is like a Gan Gray whose powers haven't been, you know,

[13:49] still extraordinarily powerful, but all of the threat is localized to this region in which it takes place in New York, which is nice. It feels much more

[14:01] like street level for a good portion of the film. Obviously, it extends a little bit in scope past that. It does bring in the new Avengers in a small capacity, but nothing like big. Honestly, the inclusion of the new Avengers almost

[14:15] felt kind of cameoy since it is such a small role. And really, it only serves small role. And really, it only serves for like a like a hot tub scene, like a like a little bath scene, and then another scene with like, "So, can you

[14:29] give me information on that?" and it's like yep here's that information like yep here's that information take care of it. So it's like you know is what it is. But like I said all of this feels like it's all very

[14:41] much like Spider-Man street level New York with the potential should things go tits up maybe it goes above there you know but I like that it wasn't just crazy outrageous worldending scale off rip like it has been so [ __ ] often.

[14:58] So yeah, overall I think it's a really good Spider-Man movie. I think they did cook here. I think they [ __ ] crushed it. I don't think it's my favorite Spider-Man movie ever made, but I do really like it. I think it's a very very

[15:10] strong film. Uh there's a lot to like about it. And if the myaters anything to go on, this movie might actually make a billion dollars on its opening weekend. [ __ ] was [ __ ] ballistic. Anyway though, movie was good. That's really

[15:24] though, movie was good. That's really about it. See y