What’s It About
Follows an adult Peter Parker living alone and forgotten, four years after No Way Home. He acts as a full-time, isolated Spider-Man in New York, facing a gang war led by Kingpin and a mysterious “physical evolution” that threatens his existence as he faces street-level villains like Scorpion.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Spider-Man: Brand New Day might be the best movie we have ever gotten about this hero. I have sat in a theater for almost every Spider-Man movie made since 2002. This film carries real emotional weight, gives its actors work that actually matters, and delivers action that will make your eyes go wide. Right after Doctor Strange’s spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home, wiped Peter Parker from everyone’s memory. Tom Holland’s Peter is alone now. He built his own suit. He lives in a run-down apartment. He throws every bit of himself into saving New York because he has nothing else left. This is not the wide-eyed kid who used to get compared to a mini Iron Man. This Peter is a young man carrying grief and loneliness, and Holland lets that pain show on his face even when the mask is on. If you have ever lost someone close to you, this performance will reach you. Grief can turn a person into a shell of who they used to be, and this movie shows that truth honestly. This movie is a cut above the rest because of how well it handles every character who crosses paths with Peter. Sure, many superhero movies will throw a bunch of big names into the film and call it a day, but Brand New Day actually gives its cast something to work with. Finally, Zendaya is able to showcase the many sides of her character MJ, a woman who has lost her memories of being in love with Peter. Unlike her mind-blowing performances, this situation is burdensome. The emotions displayed by Zendaya are so real that they may even surprise you. Sadie Sink’s character in the movie is meaningful. I won’t spoil what role she plays. What I can say is that she doesn’t overshadow Peter; she reflects his experiences and makes each character richer. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers showed great skill in maintaining balance in the storyline. Jon Bernthal also returns in his role of Frank Castle; his chemistry with Holland makes their duo one of the most entertaining parts of the film, even though Castle behaves too casually for a guy who is usually angry. Supporting cast members are also the heartbeat of this story. For instance, Marisa Tomei plays Aunt May and is dead at the beginning of the movie, but her absence haunts Peter like a specter. Or Ned, played by Jacob Batalon, and Detective Jean DeWolff, played by Liza Colón-Zayas, both remind Peter and the audience that it is community that keeps people on their feet when despair is tempting them to lie down and do nothing. Director Destin Daniel Cretton deserves most of the credit for pulling this all together. He already proved himself with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and here he brings that same heart while raising the bar for what a Spider-Man movie can look like on screen. You can spot influence from the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films, the Insomniac Spider-Man video games, and the animated Spider-Verse movies, but Cretton blends it all into something that feels brand new. Watching this movie in a packed theater, then glancing over and seeing other moviegoers’ faces light up with the same excitement we felt when the Marvel franchise was at its highest, told the whole story of how great this movie is. Now, this movie is not perfect. Some of the MCU-mandated plot threads feel like they were dropped in to set up future movies rather than to serve this one, and that adds some unnecessary bulk to the runtime. A few critics have pointed out that the marketing team built up the mystery villain plot to feel bigger than it actually turns out to be. Once you watch it, you realize this story is smaller and more personal than the trailers made it look, closer to a regular comic issue than some giant crossover event. Honestly, that choice works in the movie’s favor. This is not really an action-packed blockbuster. It is a character study about a young man trying to do right by everyone around him while barely holding himself together, and that focus on Peter’s inner life is exactly what recent Spider-Man movies have been missing. When action shows up, it shows up hard. Packing a punch and visually stunning. But afterward, the losses, friendship, and asking for help are center stage, making the movie last long after the credits roll. Peter is not fighting against some cosmic enemy. He is staying afloat while doing good in a world that keeps dragging him down, and viewers can easily relate to his struggle. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is not a flawless movie, but it might be the most honest and complete Spider-Man movie we have ever gotten. Tom Holland finally steps fully into this role after four films of growth, Zendaya proves exactly what she can do once a script actually trusts her with real material, and Destin Daniel Cretton shows the whole industry what happens when you hand a character this important to a director who genuinely cares about getting it right.
OUR RATING – AN EMOTIONAL 9