Movie Tagline: This summer a man will face his destiny. A hero will be revealed.
Historically (that is, since the mid-90s), Fourth of July weekend has been the preferred time for Hollywood studios to release their heavy-hitters. Even since Will Smith's storied run of holiday weekend hits, Hollywood has tried to replicate that level of success. Michael Bay's shiny Bayhem noise orgies known as the Transformers franchise have had some success, most notably with the first and third installments. But in recent years, movies have struggled putting butts in seats in record numbers. Not since Despicable Me 2 have we had a movie gross nearly $100 million on its opening weekend. And it's not going to happen this year, either. This isn't a bad thing, as opening weekend box office gross is likely the least relevant statistic to use when gauging whether a movie is good or not, but it is interesting to look back on a time when July Fourth movies were such an event. And while we recognize that Will Smith is and always will be the king of the July Fourth weekend, we are going to focus on a movie that is suspiciously devoid of any Fresh Prince action. No, we are going to talk about what many consider to be the best superhero movie ever made: Spider-Man 2. The highest grossing Fourth of July weekend release of all time, Spider-Man 2 is an amazing feat of genre storytelling. This is a superhero movie through and through, but it is one that is equally thrilling, intense, melancholic, frightening, romantic, and silly. Not only this, but it is emotionally satisfying. The scary bits are effectively creepy. The romantic bits are believable, not sappy. The melancholy is earned, not shoehorned in for dramatic effect. With this movie, Sam Raimi successfully performs a juggling act that few other directors would even attempt. And it is a joy to watch him work. With a director like Raimi at the top of his game, who needs Will Smith anyway? Surly Brewing Co. has the perfect beer to go with such a spectacle. It's called #MERICA!, and it is as American as beer gets. AB InBev is currently trying a gimmick where they have renamed Budweiser "America" for the summer. Well, this is a beer that actually earns the title. A pre-Prohibition American Lager (one of the few beer styles to originate in America), #MERICA! uses corn as an integral ingredient, and the flavor really comes through. A little sweet, a little floral, and a little grassy, this crisp, straw-colored lager is what a Budweiser should taste like if they are going to start calling it "America" all of a sudden. Yes, the link between Spider-Man 2 and #MERICA! is thin at best, but it's in what the two things represent that the real connection lies. Both are celebrations of America; it's good tendencies and its bad ones. It only takes one look at the label to know that #MERICA! is a tongue in cheek name. With its hashtag and exclamation point and aggressively red white and blue color scheme, this beer is maybe being a little bit ironic with its packaging. But it is also a stellar representation of a beer style that was conceived in America. It is silly, but it is also proud of its heritage. And Peter Parker's journey in Spider-Man 2 can be seen as a metaphor for America in 2004. He is Spider-Man, but the weight of that reality is so much for him to bear that he starts to slip. His schoolwork, his personal relationships, even his responsibilities as Spider-Man; it all pulls him in different directions. He doesn't know what he should do. America itself was finding its way during this same stretch of time. With the War on Terror in full swing, no one knew who to trust or how far we would go to regain a sense of control. Some of our ideals were sacrificed, our alliances were tested, and our moral center started to slip. Anyway, to reign this line of thought in, Spider-Man 2 is complicated. But #MERICA! is easy. Just pop one open and drink it down while watching a conflicted superhero do his thing.
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