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Spider-Man: Brand New Day– Film Review

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink, Tramell Tillman, Mark Ruffalo, Liza Colón-Zayas

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Synopsis: After everyone in his life has forgotten him, an isolated Peter Parker continues to fight crime and protect the people of New York as Spider-Man until a mysterious, powerful new threat emerges…

Review: A superhero’s life can be exciting as they are granted extraordinary superhuman abilities and strength that most of us could only dream of. However, beyond attracting dangerous enemies, it can be an unforgiving existence where the hero must protect their secret identity and sometimes make the hardest choices, even at tremendous personal cost. Never has this been truer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s iteration of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the multiverse from being torn apart at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he made Doctor Strange cast a spell to make everyone forget him and erase him from their lives. A decision which saw him lose the love of his life and his best friend, a perfect encapsulation of the words every Spider-Man fan will know off by heart: “With great power, there must come great responsibility”. After bringing his MCU origin story to its conclusion, one might have wondered whether this iteration of everyone’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man would hang up the web shooters and make way for a new wallcrawler to enter the MCU, but you can never keep a good spider down.

Set in the years after the events of No Way Home, Peter has devoted himself to being Spider-Man full-time, taking down all manner of villains and keeping the citizens of New York safe, all while living on his own in his Manhattan apartment. Spider-Man is beloved by the city, but even with that adulation, Peter lives a truly lonely existence and has to watch from afar with heartache and sorrow as his former lover MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Batalon) go off to MIT. He is desperate to try and somehow restore their memories of him, but remains wary that doing so could put them in harm’s way. As if that wasn’t bleak enough, Peter begins to experience strange changes in his body and powers, all while a terrifying new threat emerges, threatening to undo all of Peter’s good work and unleash absolute chaos on New York’s streets once again.

True to its title, after having a trilogy of films in which Peter was under Tony Stark’s tutelage, dealing with inherited vendettas of villains who felt they had been wronged by the late billionaire philanthropist, or encountering crazy multiverse shenanigans and teaming up with variants of himself, the slate has been totally wiped clean. It is a new dawn, and a new day for Peter, but he isn’t feeling so good. Erik Sommers’ and Chris McKenna’s script returns the character very much to his comic book roots as an unquestionably bright working-class young man who fights crime all by himself, without the vast resources of a wealthy benefactor behind him, or a single soul he can confide in. This becomes particularly problematic when his body begins to change in the worst ways, leading Peter to consult a certain scientist struggling to prevent his green alter ego from reappearing. It certainly treads familiar narrative beats to (arguably the best Spidey film to date) Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, but rest assured, this is not a retread. Even with the obligatory references and appearances of certain characters to tie it into the wider MCU, McKenna and Sommers’ script keeps the stakes deeply grounded and personal, veering into almost horror territory when Peter’s powers begin to mutate.

With this marking the seventh time he has donned Spider-Man’s mask across solo adventures and wider MCU team-ups, Holland once again excels, slipping back into the suit with effortless ease. Ever since his memorable introduction in Captain America: Civil War, Holland has grown and matured in the role before our very eyes. From a wide-eyed teenager in awe while fighting Captain America and his associates, to a battle for the fate of the universe itself, to multiversal shenanigans, and the death of his beloved aunt. It would be an understatement to say he’s been through a lot over the years, leaving a heavy emotional toll that comes through in Holland’s performance, especially when compounded by the physical upheaval he goes through. Despite his loneliness, he finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle/The Punisher, who also lives cut adrift from everyone else. It’s a relationship that isn’t exactly plain sailing, given Castle’s modus operandi is far more direct and brutal, but the film leans into this dynamic and makes it extremely entertaining as these polar-opposite philosophies and combat styles are left with little option but to join forces, particularly when MJ’s life is threatened.

In taking over from the Home trilogy’s director Jon Watts, Destin Daniel Cretton reinvigorates the franchise in a thoroughly refreshing and exciting manner. It’s easy to see why he was recruited to direct an Avengers film, as there’s vibrancy not only in the scenes where Spider-Man swings and thwips his way through the city, but also in the action scenes. One would strongly suspect that Cretton played the Insomniac games beforehand, as there are clear visual nods to them, along with the impressive flair he so masterfully demonstrated with Shang-Chi especially with the scenes involving The Hand and the film’s main antagonist. The identity of said antagonist shall not be divulged here, given the deliberate manner in which the film’s marketing shrouded it in secrecy. Needless to say, Marvel would do well to keep Cretton in mind should an opportunity to direct an MCU ensemble film come up in the future.

Those wider references to other MCU characters, while necessary, sometimes bog the story down and keep the audience from focusing on Peter’s internal struggles to balance his superhero duties, being Peter Parker, and trying to reestablish some human connection in his life. It shows that growing up is hard, even with superhuman (or spider) DNA, especially when the comforts you have relied on to get through this complicated journey we call life are taken away. You get knocked down, but you get back up, put your best webs forward and come back swinging, because a spider’s work is never done.

Building on the foundations laid by the Home trilogy, Brand New Day raises the stakes with a more mature, grounded story that delves into complex themes of isolation and growing up, with Holland never better as the titular hero.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Film Review

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Wigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Synopsis: Two months after the events of Dead Reckoning, the IMF continue their mission to prevent the AI known as The Entity from unleashing global chaos…

Review: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it.” Ever since this iconic line was first uttered in the original Mission: Impossible film in 1996, it has been quite an incredible journey over the past three decades. Eight globe-trotting missions, some truly death-defying and insane stunts, and over $4bn at the worldwide box office— all largely due to the extraordinary tenacity and commitment of the man who has been at the heart of it all from the very beginning: the one and only Tom Cruise. He is someone who has always worked his hardest and has never stopped running (literally), in his bid to entertain the audiences. However, there eventually comes a point where the time is right to close the curtain on a franchise. Now, after the events that were set in motion by Dead Reckoning, Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Mission Force take their (supposed) final bow.

It has been two months since the IMF became aware of the existence of the sentient and nefarious AI known as the Entity, which has since made itself known to the world, causing complete and total havoc for governments across the world by taking control of the nuclear arsenals of some of the most powerful nations. With time running out before the AI causes a devastating global catastrophe, the IMF learn of the existence of a software that could neutralise the Entity. With the fate of the world as we know it at stake, as Ethan himself tells the President of the United States, Erika Sloane (Bassett), “I need you to trust me, one last time”. With the stakes somehow higher than ever before, Ethan and his crew embark on a mission to prevent the villainous Gabriel (Morales) from getting his hands on the AI.

There comes a point, even when you have had a great a run as Mission has, that the time will eventually come for the franchise to take its final bow, one last mission to accept if you will. Ever since taking the reins with Rogue Nation, Christopher McQuarrie and the age-defying star that is Tom Cruise have crafted some of the best action cinema, with the latter’s commitment to putting Ethan in perilous predicaments to deliver spectacle on a truly epic scale. Unfortunately, McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen’s script is bogged down by a bloated and extremely slow first act that delivers a mountain of exposition and is on its own mission to recap every film that has led to this mission. It comes across as completely redundant, given that the audience will have more than likely been with Ethan since he first accepted his mission back in 1996, and it puts an unnecessary drag on the film’s nearly three-hour runtime.

Furthermore, in the same vein as its predecessor, it is evident that McQuarrie and Cruise were so laser-focused on the stunts and how they would be accomplished that the script was relegated to the realm of an afterthought, serving merely as a vehicle for some jaw-dropping stunts. In doing so, it gives long-time Mission stalwarts, such as Simon Pegg’s Benji and especially Ving Rhames’ Luther with not a great deal to do beyond their usual supporting roles as long-time friends of Ethan. They frankly deserved far better, given how they have been key members of the team for so long. Furthermore, even the newer members of the team, such as Hayley Atwell’s Grace and Pom Klementieff’s Paris, are also underutilised, all the more disappointing given their memorable introductions in Dead Reckoning. Given the increasing capabilities that humanity has been seeing with the rise of artificial intelligence, there is a point to be made about how this technology may one day bring the world to its knees and cause unprecedented havoc. That being said, if you break it down for even a minute, the plot is so ridiculous that it doesn’t make one iota of sense, and Gabriel does not leave a lasting impression as the antagonist.

What does not disappoint is Tom Cruise, because when does he ever let us down? When you consider the truly staggering stunts he has managed to accomplish over the years, from climbing the world’s tallest building, to hanging off an aeroplane mid-flight and riding a motorcycle and parachuting off a cliff? Surely, he can’t pull off anything more jaw-dropping than that? Well, leave it to him to continue to find new ways to make it his mission to laugh in the face of death with two truly set pieces, with one involving a deep-sea dive that might make people discover a fear of deep water, or thalassophobia. From one end of the spectrum in the deep depths of the ocean to the skies above us, as his other mind-boggling stunt is another stunt involving biplanes, with Hunt literally hanging off them and a terrifying drop back to earth. It will set your heart rate soaring, and your palms will sweat profusely. It truly has to be seen to be believed.

Since the first fuse was lit all those years ago, it has been a wild and exhilarating ride across those nearly three decades. Eight missions, and some truly nail-biting and tense action set-pieces. The impact that Cruise has had on cinema as a whole is immeasurable, and we can be immensely grateful for everything he has put into this series. Time will tell if indeed this is the final mission Ethan Hunt and the IMF will accept, but if it is, it is not the explosive bang it would have hoped for.

A confoundingly dull first act of flashbacks threatens to derail the mission before it really gets going. However, once the film moves past this point, it hits top running speed and never looks back.