Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the Six Sixteen Review

I grew up as a fan of two things: Marvel Comics and film. I was that kid who would fight you about Marvel being better than DC. As I wrote in the post launching this site, I found X-Men #137 at age 7 in a gas station and was hooked. The first movie I can remember going to with my dad was Star Wars, which was even earlier in my life. I passed this love of Marvel and film to my daughters. We have this long-running discussion in our family about which of Marvel’s films or TV shows are in our top 3.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has cracked my top 3. It might even be my favorite Marvel Studios film of all time.

The Look & Feel Is There

This is the best looking Marvel film. The knock on that Marvel film look is real—those flat colors and lack of depth—but the new Spider-Man film is gorgeous. When talking about this with my wife, I said this Spider-Man film looks like it has a classic film look. The lighting is warm. The shadows are deep and give each shot so much depth. That scene, the one featured in trailers where Peter is at the same party as MJ and Ned, is just so beautiful to look at. Watching this movie felt like I stepped back into the classic cinema era, back when everything was shot on real film.

And yet, somehow, there’s still such a vibrant superhero color palette. The action is cinematic, huge. The fights look real. They feel real. It’s hard to do a grounded film that feels like something straight out of a comic book.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day manages to pull this off. No small feat by itself.

An NYC Filled with Marvel Characters

Then, there’s New York City and all the Marvel characters walking around. This New York felt like the NYC of the Marvel Comics I grew up on. Characters bump into each other naturally. These aren’t just cameos. These are fully realized characters who bump into each other in natural ways.

When I saw the trailers I had that sinking feeling—uh oh, here we go again with another movie stuffing an endless parade of characters into it. That’s not the case. Each character matters. Each character emerges naturally in the plot.

This is how a connected universe should work. It's how good writing works, and the best of comics have always been well written.

Relevant in the Way the Best Comics Are

When Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, it was a revelation of what comics could be. A super hero was no longer a muscle-bound, picture-perfect all-American like Superman. He was a kid from Queens dealing with the same issues as any other teen. Spider-Man was relevant to the culture of the 60s.

That idea—heroic characters dealing with what the rest of us are dealing with—has been at the heart of Marvel ever since. The best stories in this genre are like that. This film does it well too. It’s somehow a movie about the isolation and loneliness we all feel, about the need each of us have for our friends. It’s a reminder. But it’s not preachy or too on the nose. We’re just watching Peter Parker dealing with the consequences of the life he’s been given, and then realizing, oh yeah, that’s kind of like me!

Worth Watching Again, and Again

I know I’m full of praise here, but I’m realistic about this film, too. It’s not a perfect film. I could quibble about some aspects. The changing nature of Peter’s powers felt a little bolted on. I suspect if you removed that aspect from the film, it wouldn’t change the meaning or pace at all.

I also don’t get the need to keep Sadie Sink’s character such a secret. It felt pretty obvious in the trailer who she was. Long-time comics fans already figured it out. If you’re not a long-time fan, then the reveal in the film likely meant nothing to you. The secret keeping was just a little over-done and silly. But still, I loved her character in this movie. Such a great performance from Sadie Sink, too.

This is a spectacular film despite those quibbles. It well deserves the opening weekend success it has had. Now I need to find an open date where I can go see it again before it leaves theaters. Then I’ll watch it again when it comes to streaming. And probably again and again. It’s just really that good, the best of the MCU and the best of what Marvel Comics and Marvel movies can be.