"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" marks the first, long-overdue outing in Tom Holland's Spider-Man series where the main story doesn't revolve around Peter Parker coming of age as his superhero alter ego.
After successfully wiping the world's memory that he is Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) longs to reconnect with the friends and lover who no longer know he exists.
He lives alone in his New York apartment, hiding his stash of advanced tech equipment so he can continue being the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. The film never explains how Peter affords all this expensive gear, but we do know he's working closely with the police department to take down crime in the city.
There's a long gap between "Brand New Day" and "No Way Home," and it shows. Peter has found his groove as an adult, but he's still mourning losses he can't fix. This version of the character is lonely and always longing for companionship. In his downtime he calls his detective friend, who only knows him as Spider-Man, buys flowers for his late Aunt May's grave, and stalks his former friends on social media.
"Brand New Day" settles for lower stakes than the previous three Holland films, though that doesn't make it a simpler story. Director Destin Daniel Cretton juggles multiple threads at once: Peter embracing new discoveries as Spider-Man alongside his lonely personal life, a mystery villain played by Sadie Sink, and a supporting cast that includes Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle/Punisher, Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, and "Homecoming" villain Scorpion (Michael Mando). It makes for an uneven watch at times.
The film works best when it leans into Peter's emotional turmoil. Tom Holland has embodied this character so finely, and this might be his best performance in the role yet. "Brand New Day" is a good movie, but there's an even better one hiding somewhere inside it, one that isn't obligated to keep expanding this superhero universe and is instead free to focus purely on human, tender relationships as its central conflict.
I still enjoyed "Brand New Day," even if I felt every minute of its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Cretton has nailed Spider-Man and Peter Parker to the character's soul, and he clearly understands that a neighbourhood story for a neighbourhood superhero is the magic sauce that makes it all work. He's also got a good eye for action, staging battles that feel pulled straight out of the comics, and sometimes even the video games.
"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" might be stuffed, but its action sequences and emotional core make it worth catching at the cinema. I have high hopes for this franchise should Destin Daniel Cretton continue to be tapped to direct future instalments.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” gets ★★★⯪☆.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is now showing in cinemas.
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