Slideshow image

Here is a quick review of the new Spider-Man movie (Spider Man: Brand New Day), along with some reflections about sin, God, and human nature.

The Bad: There is excessive language used by Frank Castle’s character (a.k.a. the Punisher). Despite that, the movie is rated PG-13. In Marvel Comics, the Punisher has always been rough, reflected – in part - by his harsh language. Spider-Man, on the other hand, has always been “PG” with his language and affect. When you put the two together, you get a linguistically and morally controlled hero who fights alongside a morally questionable companion. Because of the pervasive inclusion of the Punisher in the movie, I would recommend that families wait to watch the movie on a platform where the language can be filtered out.

The Good: Spider-Man is back, and nobody remembers his secret identity. He is given a fresh start on his hero quest, and he chooses to lose himself in it full-time. He protects the ones he loves by not sharing his real identity (Peter Parker) with them. This creates overpowering loneliness, a struggle that many have today. It serves as a stark reminder that we need community. We need family and friends. We need the church. We are not meant to fight the fight of faith alone. In the movie, the resolution of Spidey’s isolation serves as a dominant backdrop for the film.

The movie also introduces the X-men, another Marvel Comics franchise, by giving us one of its main characters in her origin story – Jean Grey. She is a character who has the mutant ability to control the thoughts of others (along with various other manifested superpowers). Jean Grey, along with the Punisher, serve as character comparisons to Spider-Man. All three have suffered deep personal loss, and those experiences have given them three different definitions of right and good.

Thank God we have the Bible. Despite our past hurts and triumphs, we know what is right and good in the eyes of the Creator! We can pursue objective truth from a Biblical world view instead of finding ourselves driven and tossed by different views shaped merely by experience and the ideologies of man. (James 1:5-8) This movie shows us how morally confused the world is without an objective standard of truth.

Finally, we are given a morally compromised organization: the Department of Damage Control (DoDC). This is a federal-level bureaucracy that cleans up collateral damage after superhero battles in the city (See previous Avengers movies). Large organizations can easily lose their central charter and be led into morally questionable activity when untethered to objective truth. They can slowly fade into actions that – once upon a time – were unthinkable. In the movie, the DoDC has devolved to a point where it is dedicated to deadly and brutal human experimentation in the quest for enhanced human capacities. The quest for shallow benefits at the expense of means/ways that are deeply evil.

The world needs the fragrance of the knowledge of the gospel to stay tethered to true good and the lasting benefits that only God can bring.

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2 ESV)

Recommendation: the movie is both recommended and fun if you can filter out (or ignore) the language.