Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Written by: Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Liza Colon-Zayas, Tramell Tillman, and Sadie Sink
Runtime: 145 minutes
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ feels like a busy yet uneventful Monday
“I will remember you. Will you remember me?” – Sarah McLachlan (1995)
During the last act of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) casts a spell so that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is wiped away from everyone’s memories, including Peter’s girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), and best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon).
New York City residents (as well as inhabitants all over the planet) continue to recall and rely on Spider-Man, but no one can recollect a teenage Peter Parker.
It’s a brand-new perspective for a suddenly anonymous Peter Parker, and this is where “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” picks up. MJ and Ned move away to Boston to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Peter dives, sprints, and swings into his work as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, cleaning up New York City while in frequent communication with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colon-Zayas).
During the film’s first act, Spidey works overtime chasing down criminals - like Scorpion (Michael Mando), Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), and more – with some exciting urban battles. These snippets and montages feel like odes to the old-school Spider-Man comics, and director Destin Daniel Cretton and cinematographer Brett Pawlak capture some stunning first-person imagery, especially when Peter hangs upside-down from a girder and simply drops (maybe) 80 floors before shooting out one of his trusty webs.
Before you can say, “My Spidey-senses are tingling,” it’s four years later, and MJ and Ned have moved back to NYC and are ready to take on the world after school, while Peter continues his nonstop days and evenings fighting crime and tending to his constant array of cuts and bruises.
Will Peter reconnect with his old girlfriend and BFF?
This plot point becomes the emotional center for “Brand New Day”, as Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings” (2021) and “Short Term 12” (2013)) grabs the webs…err, reins of Holland’s fourth Spider-Man film.
Writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (who co-wrote all four Holland Spidey flicks) scribe plenty of mental strife for Spidey. Mr. Parker learns to cope without friends or family as a support system, ponders a possible reunion with MJ and Ned, wrestles with the long hours while taking a constant physical beating on The Big Apple’s streets, suddenly deals with new physiological changes to his body (What?), and investigates the mystery of an unknown villain frequently attacking a research agency called Damage Control headed by William Metzger (Tramell Tillman).
Holland spins his best, most nuanced performance as Peter in the series with moments of self-reflection, tending to his wounds, and facing MJ and Ned as the MIT grads have no high school memories of him at all, and Tom is there for all of it. And why not? He’s been playing this role since “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), and his on-screen Peter carries the heft of years of baggage, including Aunt May’s (Marisa Tomei) death. Tom and Zendaya share obvious chemistry in all their on-screen moments. Surely, life as a real-life couple has its advantages. Tom and Jacob share some glimpses into their on-screen former bestie status.
Unfortunately, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” sometimes feels like we’re slogging through a two-and-a-half-hour therapy session. Normally, superhero inner conflicts can work exceedingly well to add indispensable character development. For example, just turn to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) facing their struggles in “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), respectively.
“Guardians” and “Endgame”, however, have compelling stories with gigantic stakes, like Ronan (Lee Pace) acquiring the power stone and attempting to destroy an entire planet and the Avengers trying to reverse Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) universe-shaking snap from “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018).
“Brand New Day” takes an altogether different approach. Cretton, McKenna, and Sommers introduce a mystery villain, the individual behind the aforementioned Damage Control attacks. It’s up to Spider-Man to act as a detective and reveal the big baddie. Obviously, one doesn’t need an interplanetary battle in a Spider-Man movie, but the film’s second largest conflict – where Spidey plays Sherlock Holmes – is flawed. Even though the actual disclosure is a take-your-breath-away moment, the resolution in the third act is a letdown for reasons that will not be revealed in this review. Sigh.
Once one knows the revelation and the played-out events afterward, the film’s rewatch factor is infinitesimal compared to “No Way Home”, a movie with countless big moments that absolutely earned its 1.9 billion-dollar take in theatres.
Granted, the stunt, visual effects, and special effects departments do draw up some sticky situations and glorious superhero skirmishes, including Spidey’s tangled on-again/off-again alliance with Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and some intriguing scenes with Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and his alter-ego, Hulk. Bernthal and Ruffalo should star in every MCU movie. Oh, let’s not forget that Peter’s DNA is changing too! There’s a lot to unpack here.
Despite Holland’s and the supporting cast’s worthy thespian efforts, the overall film is the least satisfying in the series. Rather than resolving all the given questions, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” feels like a busy yet uneventful Monday while the MCU schedules the next day’s movie.
Then again, your enjoyment of “Brand New Day” could be directly proportional to your investment in Peter, MJ, and Ned over the three previous movies since 2017. Maybe that’s enough. Maybe not.
Either way, we do remember their friendship and “weep not for the memories.”
Jeff’s ranking
2 / 4 stars
