By Thuan Dinh, Staff Writer

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which was released July 31 and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, is an amazing addition to the web-slinger’s Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise and shows that after five years, the saga remains incredibly vibrant.

The movie follows Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland) juggling multiple challenges, including a mysterious telepath, the corrupt Department of Damage Control, the deadly Scorpion, strange mutations and an unexpected fight with the Hulk. Beneath this action, he is dealing with losing his relationships with MJ and Ned, which happened after Doctor Strange cast a spell for everyone to forget Peter Parker, since the universe was collapsing from a mistake in a different spell.

Each complex subplot is built carefully, keeping you on the edge of your seat. One detail that caught my eye was the stunts, which were easily some of the best in any live-action Spider-Man movie. The swinging felt very fluid and the camera flowed smoothly with every web while the sharp stunt choreography, camera angles and smooth pans during action sequences really pulled everything together.

Another standout was how the characters were portrayed. Spider-Man and the Punisher (played by Jon Bernthal) in particular were amazing and even better as a duo. Their chemistry was great and they could take any scene to the next level whether it was action, comedy or drama. While Bernthal didn’t get many solo scenes, Holland did, and I would say he knocked it out of the park. He was the perfect way to show an experienced Spider-Man like we had never seen before. If you look at his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War and then look at him now in this movie it feels like he really grew as his character and portrayed each stage of Peter Parker’s growth as Spider-Man and himself.

One more character that finally got the justice they deserved was the Hulk. After many years of Smart Hulk, which removed the anger and destruction that most people loved about the character, we finally got to see the real rage Hulk come back and he was bigger than ever. I loved the way they portrayed the Hulk in this movie with a new voice and showing his built-up anger with his giant size.

A critique I have of the film is that it was pretty packed with trailer bait: some characters from the comics had quick cameos that didn’t add anything to the story, and it felt like they added them solely to get people in the theater. This felt cheap, and it did not seem like these characters would ever be featured again.

Ultimately, the most compelling thing about the movie, and Spider-Man in general, is the hope that his heroism inspires. Before the movie he had lost his aunt, and his mentor Tony Stark. He also lost everyone he had ever known after Doctor Strange’s mind wiping spell. Yet, even after all this he still decides to be the hero every day and that is what makes this movie so spectacular.