7/7 🪩🪩🪩🪩🪩🪩🪩
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is one of those films that gets better every time you watch it (I’ve seen it three times so far). There are so many subtleties woven throughout, some of the best acting to grace a Marvel/Sony film, and enough emotional and visual depth that I genuinely think this movie will stand the test of time.
I did my best to stay off the internet and avoid spoilers going in, which made some of the unexpected turns hit even harder. Between the surprises, some of the best visual effects I’ve seen in a Marvel film, incredibly creative action choreography, and several moments that genuinely made me cry, this movie has just about everything I want from a superhero film.
At its core, the story comes down to a few major themes: loneliness, the suffering that comes with loss, and friendship.
Those ideas are woven beautifully throughout the film and give the action much more emotional weight. The battles aren’t simply there to create spectacle; they feel connected to what the characters are experiencing internally.
What impressed me even more were all the things the movie doesn’t explicitly tell you. Between Easter eggs, background details, subtle changes in expression, and small non-verbal cues between characters, there are so many layers to unpack. It’s almost impossible to catch everything the first time. With each new viewing, I noticed another expression, visual cue, or story detail that completely changed how I interpreted a scene. That kind of attention to detail gives the movie a tremendous amount of rewatch value.
The visuals are breathtaking. Both from a cinematography standpoint and as a CGI achievement, the overall look and feel of this movie is incredible. There are moments where it genuinely feels like you are swinging alongside Spider-Man. Seeing powers displayed at their full force is spectacular (OMG HULK), but what stood out to me even more was how the filmmakers used camera movement, framing, perspective, and shifts in scale as part of the storytelling. The action choreography is also fantastic. Rather than simply watching characters throw punches or blast each other across the screen, many of the sequences feel carefully constructed around Spider-Man’s abilities and movement. There are shots and visual choices here that feel fresh in a genre where it has become increasingly difficult to show audiences something they haven’t already seen.
The music was another highlight and complemented what was happening onscreen wonderfully. The combination of a sweeping theatrical score with modern music could have felt eclectic or even disjointed, but somehow it works perfectly with the personality of the film. I know Bad Bunny’s presence on the soundtrack has already inspired plenty of memes, but I was personally even more excited when the movie opened with TV on the Radio. Hearing a band I love — and a song that immediately takes me back to my 20s — was such an unexpected treat. Those musical choices help give the movie its own identity instead of making it feel like another interchangeable superhero soundtrack.
The acting may be one of the strongest parts of the entire movie. The cast has incredible chemistry, and the quieter scenes are just as compelling as the massive action sequences. One scene in particular between Zendaya and Tom Holland really stayed with me. Watching them have a conversation about love while he’s testing a prototype already felt incredibly intimate, but knowing that the two of them are married in real life gave the scene an almost surreal quality. There was an authenticity to their interaction that was difficult to ignore. It felt real because, in some ways, I think it probably was. Those kinds of moments are what elevate the film beyond its spectacle. You believe these relationships, which means that when the characters experience loneliness, friendship, love, or loss, you feel it with them.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a MUST SEE. It delivers the massive superhero spectacle you expect from Spider-Man while remembering that the reason these stories matter is because of the people underneath the masks. It’s emotional, visually stunning, incredibly well acted, packed with details worth discovering again and again, and filled with moments that reminded me why I love seeing movies like this in a theater.
See it on the biggest screen you can find.
Emotion: 7/7
Editing & Story: 7/7
Visuals: 7/7
Copyright Disclaimer: All images, characters, film titles, music, and other referenced materials from Spider-Man: Brand New Day are used solely for editorial, commentary, and review purposes. All rights remain with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Marvel Studios, Columbia Pictures, and their respective owners.