This is the place where I discuss all things Sacred and Profane. Stop by and check me out. Leave a comment (or not), as this is done for my own amusement. If you too are entertained, all the better, but that is not the motivation here. For I, am a...Writer with attitude! Comics, Sci Fi, movies, TV, Books, the Internet, Pop Culture, you name it. I talk about all of these things and more. These are the things that entertain me. I can only hope that some of them will entertain you as well.
Stars:Tom
Holland, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink
As we rejoin our intrepid hero, Spider-Man, it has been some
four years that have passed since the events of No Way Home, and
Peter is now an adult living entirely alone in Queens, NY, having voluntarily
erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves. Given his chosen solitary
life, fighting crime in a New York that no longer knows his name, he's devoted
himself entirely to protecting his city as a full-time Spider-Man. This is
where Peter proves how resourceful he is, Given that no one remembers who he
is, and he is now totally and completely on his own, with no back-up or support
from Stark Industries, he has had to create all of his own tech. Peter has
created his own artificial intelligence assistant E.V. (often referred
phonetically as E.V.I.E. and voiced by actress Naomi Watts).
In his fight against crime in NYC, Spidey has formed an
alliance with NYC Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) with whom he is
connected with not only by phone but an app that alerts each of them to crimes
being committed throughout the city. However,
as the demands on him intensify, and his increased isolation weighs on him, the
pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence,
even as a strange new pattern of crime gives rise to one of the most powerful
threats he has ever faced.
As the film opens Peter is shown setting up his apartment in
what was essentially a storage unit filled with boxes and junk. He also
monitors the video TikTok postings of his friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) who
has been hanging out and traveling with MJ (Zendaya)—which naturally adds to Peter’s
depression and anxiety). This is followed by what this long-time Spidey fan can
describe as the most amazingly spectacular footage of Spidey swinging through
the steel and glass canyons of midtown Manhattan. All of which is interspersed
with Spidey taking down an impressive array of his rogues’ gallery, including
(but not limited to) Scorpion, Tarantula, Tombstone, Boomerang, and Ramrod. He
also goes up against several ninjas from The Hand, a traditional Daredevil set
of villains.
Also appearing (and having a major presence in this film) is
the organization Damage Control. In the comics, Damage Control is a private business
that is tasked with repairing damage created during battles between Marvel
heroes and villains. Here in the MCU the group has been transformed into a paramilitary/quasi-governmental
establishment tasked with capturing and housing super-criminals. As the film
kicks into high gear, there is a massive tank blowing through the streets of
the city heading towards the Damage Control building.
As Spidey is swinging down the streets avoiding machinegun
and rock fire, he runs afoul (and over) by The Punisher’s (Jon Bernthal) van.
This results in an exchange between the pair (who obviously know each other as
revealed by Spidey about an interaction they had on Staten Island, where Spidey
saved Frank Castle’s life). Spider-Man manages to stall Punisher, and follows
the tank to the Damage Control building where it crashed through the side of
the building.
Once inside this sets off an amazingly cool chase sequence
where the driver of the tank is revealed as an elderly woman, only we
immediately see that she isn’t so much the driver of the tank, as simply as
someone who is being possessed by somebody else. As soon as she is discovered, the
entity begins jumping from person to person as they race through the building
to get to the rooftop were Damage Control cops are loading Scorpion into a helicopter,
escaping the chasing Spider-Man.
From here we follow Peter through the film as he works his
way through the mystery of who the entity is (you may already know, but I’m not
going to reveal that here), tries to protect MJ from the entity, deals with
Frank (and his murderous tendencies), recapture Scorpion, reconnect with MJ &
Ned, and deal with his own evolving physiology. To do this last part he reaches
out to Dr. Banner, who is now a teaching professor at Empire State University.
To deal with the entity and scorpion, he connects with Yelena Belova (Florence
Pugh) who is now going by Black Widow.
Throughout all of this we gain a real connection with Peter
and his struggles to live in a world that no longer knows who he is, including his
best friend and (more tragically) the love of his life, who knows she is
missing something, but is wholly unable to understand quite what that thing is.
All of which gives us, the viewing audience, something that is more than just “another
superhero punch-em’-up), but a fully functioning, completely fleshed out story beautifully
panted across a two-and-a-half-hour film that is full of equal parts
sentimental emotional highs and lows, and several high-octane fight sequences each
designed to bring thrills, chills, heartfelt emotions, as well as an thoroughly
enjoyable experience.
So, yeah, not only is this a most amazing cinematic
experience, it is the best Spider-Man film created to date (yes, even better
than the first Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire (which I waited
some 10 years from it’s announcement to debut) and yes even better than Spider-Man:
No Way Home which was stunningly brilliant. This film is the whole
package, and it is really that good. I remember when the first Spider-Man film
came out and it help kick off a golden era of superhero films. Hopefully, this
film will re-kickstart a new golden era, of superhero films as we head over the
next three years including Clayface (October 23, 2026), Avengers:
Doomsday (December 18, 2026), Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
(June 18,) 2027), Man of Tomorrow
(July 9, 2027), Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027), The
Batman 2 (February 18, 2028), and Dynamic Duo (June 30,
2028), Black Panther 3 - December 15, 2028.
Oh before I go, I do want to reveal two non-spoiler, very
cool Easter eggs I saw in the film (I’m sure there are more). One is There is a
scene where The Hulk is chasing Spidey down a hallway that is reminiscent of
Him chasing Black Widow through the Helicarrier in the first Avengers film. The
second isn’t so much an MCU reference as it is a film reference. There is a
shot of Spidey and MJ on the roof of a building with the lit-up Silvercup sign,
that seems to be a call-back to the first Highlander film. Both very cool.
Like most of the known world, I went to see Spider-Man Brand
New Day today (Thursday) with my nephew, and great-nephew, at the AMC Marquis
16 in Trumbull, CT. About 20 minutes into the film the entire theater lost
power (there was a massive rainstorm that may have contributed to it).
Fortunately, within just a few minutes, the power came back on to the
excitement of us all. However, after some 30 minutes or so of no film, the
sound returned but not the visuals of the movie itself. Needless to say, we wound
up sitting thru about 15 minutes of that, putting us some 45 minutes back on a
film that started after 5:00 on a school night with a 10-year-old. We finally just
left.
Sider-Flavoradditive
Thankfully, the theater promised to refund tickets to everyone on site. Still,
the entire experience was such a major bummer. Anyway, we eventually were able
to book tickets to catch the film on Sunday morning, so that part’s good. So,
finally having finally seen the film, I want to say that it was truly amazing.
In fact, the first several minutes of it with Spidey swinging through the
streets of downtown Manhattan were truly spectacular.
Then nephews and then I chose to re-book our Spider-viewing experience for Sunday at a different theater, which we did. And, of course, even that trip was fraught with its own tribulations, as there was a two car accident on the highway which delayed each of us (coming in different directions) towards the theater. Still, we both managed to make it to the film as the trailers were rolling (good thing modern movies come with 15 to 20 minutes of trailers, promo material and commercials before the actual film starts.
Spider Popcorn bucket and drink cup
Spidey theater pin
And just to prove all the nay-sayers who are trying to tell
us that we are suffering from some kind of “Superhero Fatigue” the film’s
opening weekend was (according to Box
Office MoJo) $927,000,000. Proving
that what audiences are tired of are, is bad writing and direction, not the
story or characters themselves. What people seem to forget is that throughout
cinematic history we’ve gone through multiple phases of trends, including musicals,
westerns, war films, gangster films, Sci-Fi, horror, and more. Right now, we’re
in a superhero trend, and yes, it will eventually morph into something else,
but as far as I’m concerned, this superhero trend will continue for quite some
time to come.
Oh, and while I’m on the subject of my favorite superhero, I
might as well as admit that I purchased quite a number of Spider-Related swag,
both from the movie theaters, and elsewhere. Some of which has appeared
supporting this admittedly self-indulgent essay.
All of the Spider-Swag you see here (including the mini-Lego-like figures plus way more are part of my personal collection. And then there is the non-alcoholic beer endorsed by Tom Holland and sold by Bero. Yeah, I bought that was well. Oh, and there are a pair of Spidey pajama bottoms from SuperheroStuff.com on the way.
