SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY:
SPIDEY’S RETURN IS A VERY GOOD DAY INDEED!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: **** out of 4
COLUMBIA PICTURES AND MARVEL STUDIOS
Spidey’s back in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Tom Holland (The Lost City of Z, Uncharted, The Odyssey) is back as the web-slinger in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and follow-up to 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. I really enjoy Holland’s run as Spider-Man, though admittedly, his first two outings, 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home while both very solid films I thought were kinda overrated compared to the first two Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies and especially the two animated Spider-Verse films with the latter being some of the best comic book movies I’ve ever seen.
I felt Spider-Man’s adventures should be grand and epic, and those felt smaller scaled and had much lower stakes compared to other Spider-Man and MCU films. However, the third film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which revolved around the multiverse and featured returning cast members from the other movies, finally was that epic Spidey adventure I wanted and a giant love letter to the character; it was the best live-action Spider-Man movie since Spider-Man 2 (2004).
Which brings us to this fourth film with Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, The Glass Castle, Just Mercy); who had previously directed the MCU movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings taking over directing duties from Jon Watts and Holland, Zendaya (Dune trilogy, The Drama, The Odyssey), and Jacob Batalon (Shortcomings, Lift, Novocaine) reprising their roles. I was initially skeptical about another Tom Holland Spider-Man movie because No Way Home left such a huge impact and was a game-changer by having actors and characters from different Spider-Man universes come together; where do you go from there?
Well, this one makes the wise decision of going back to basics and focusing on Peter’s personal and psychological dilemmas, balancing his normal life and Spider-Man and masking up (No pun intended) the courage of telling his friends, MJ, and Ned who he is after their memories were erased at the end of the last movie. I’m happy to say that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a worthy entry in the MCU Spider-Man franchise and my second favorite in the series after No Way Home.
The film is set four years after Doctor Strange’s spell erased everyone’s memories of Peter Parker and follows Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Holland) anonymously protecting New York City while keeping a watchful eye on his former friends, Michelle “MJ’ Jones (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Batalon). But when a mysterious new threat comes that starts telepathically possessing people and Peter’s superpowers undergo a surprising and potentially dangerous evolution, he enlists the help of Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal-The Accountant 1 and 2, Baby Driver, The Odyssey; reprising his role from previous MCU projects) and Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo-Spotlight, Dark Waters, Poor Things; reprising his role from previous MCU projects) to figure out what’s going on and how to stop it.
The film also stars Tramell Tillman (Severance, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Ebenezer) as head of DODC William “Bill” Metzger, Michael Mando (Far Cry franchise, Better Call Saul, Orphan Black) reprising his role from Spider-Man: Homecoming as Mac Gargan/Scorpion, and Liza Colón-Zayas (The Purge: Election Year, The Bear, IF) as NYPD detective Jean DeWolff.
Overall, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the most “Spider-Man” the MCU era of Spidey has ever been and a solid character piece that balances superhero spectacle and strong dilemmas. This is the second-longest Spider-Man movie, clocking in at 2 hours and 25 minutes, and unlike The Amazing Spider-Man 2, does not waste any of its time.
I was locked in and invested in just about everything in this film, whether it’s an exciting action scene or the struggles Peter, MJ, and this new character we find out about are going through. Between this and No Way Home, I feel the MCU is finally getting Spider-Man right (Just for the record, I enjoyed the films that came before those) and giving him relatable problems outside of “I just really want to impress Mr. Stark” and understanding his responsibility as a hero.
Tom Holland is superb here as both Peter and Spider-Man, with this film giving him some of the best acting I’ve seen from him as the web-slinger. He is quippy and fun but also carries a lot of emotional weight to the story with him determining whether or not to tell his former friends the truth about who he really is.
The best scenes of Holland are when he’s with either Zendaya or Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. There is a lot of tension and heartbreak during the scenes with Holland and Zendaya, whom the former remembers and not the latter, and the dynamic between Spider-Man and the Punisher is like a buddy duo; it’s great hearing their banter. I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Peter and the “Villain” though I can’t talk about it without going into spoilers, and trust me, it’s best that you just go see the movie for yourself.
The film itself reminded me a lot of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 in terms of its plot, with Peter essentially having an existential crisis and everything going wrong for him. But unlike in Spider-Man 2, where Peter’s powers keep failing, he suddenly gains organic web-shooting abilities, and his powers get enhanced based on his emotions.
The action scenes are great and easily the best out of all the Holland movies (Yes, even No Way Home), with much of it being done practically and shot and edited with a lot of energy and flow. Spider-Man stops a runaway tank, fights a barrage of Hand ninjas, a fun clash against the Hulk that even has a “Puny God” nod from the first Avengers, and an intellectual battle between Peter and the film’s villain.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day might not reach the heights of No Way Home, Spider-Man 2, or even Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, but it’s a solidly crafted, exciting, and character-focused superhero film with amazing performances by its leads and a compelling narrative with bold themes and ideas. It’s a Brand New Day, and this is a damn good day to watch Spider-Man.
