In an era of Marvel that has been nothing short of a bumpy roller coaster ride, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man once again proved he is the consistent and popular piece. Surrounded by films with large-scale multiversal threats, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” was a refreshing return to the street-level Spider-Man America knows and loves.
This fourth MCU Spider-Man movie follows the events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in which a spell causes the entire world to forget who Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is. Parker struggles with the reality of being completely alone, isolated from his ex-girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon). Parker’s internal struggles are both seen and felt. These relatable struggles, coupled with his swiftly evolving powers, set the stage for a transition from a sort of Spider-Boy to Spider-Man.
This sort of Spider puberty was coupled with the extremely dangerous telepathic threat presented by Sadie Sink’s character. Watching Parker circumnavigate his personal struggles with the external threat presented by Grey sounds confusing, but it worked. Multiple plot lines were going on at once throughout the film, but honestly, I loved it. It felt very similar to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy: multiple threats coupled with an internal struggle that provoked character growth.
Standing out amongst everyone’s performances was once again Holland. His ability to convey the emotional, lonely scenes coupled with the transition to a mutating superhero was an acting job for the ages. A hotly contested debate over which Spider-Man is the ‘best’ will continue; however, Holland’s performance in this fourth film gives him an excellent case (despite the fact that he was the only one to get four solo films). This MCU iteration of Spider-Man is an anchor in this vastly changing universe.
Apart from Holland’s performance, Jon Bernthal’s performance as Frank Castle (Punisher) was exhilarating. He did a phenomenal job portraying both the grumpy and revengeful man, along with some key moments of good that shine through. His chemistry with Holland was outstanding, and I believe it should continue to be a thing in future films. The two clearly look natural on screen.
I really enjoyed how this movie looked. I believed it was one of the most colorful Marvel films I’ve seen. Beyond that, it was filmed in such an immersive way, with rotating cameras and awesome fight scenes that rank among the top Spider-Man fight scenes ever. There were newly explored webbing powers that were an exhilarating difference from just single web slings. This, coupled with his new, non-Iron-Spider suit, which I LOVED, really brought the visual aspects home for me. It was a 1-of-1 visual experience.
My favorite aspect of this film was its pure groundedness. Although it featured appearances from Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) that had great moments, they didn’t dominate the film. It strayed away from being a mini Avengers movie. This street-level, solo action was the first I’ve really felt from a Tom Holland Spider-Man movie, and I loved it. It’s everything Spidey fans wanted, and more. Its brief post-credit scene had its place in the larger MCU, but it didn’t dominate the film.
Despite all my love for this movie, I did have several complaints. It wasn’t perfect. Some of his reuniting with Ned felt unearned. The MJ scenes were paced well, but this struggle with Ned wasn’t nearly explored as well. My biggest complaint lies in the semi-reused overall storyline and lessons learned. It certainly wasn’t out of place for Peter Parker, but it was just similar to some of the last films. However, I will never be bored by this “with great power comes great responsibility” trope for as long as Spidey is around.
Overall, I was very happy with Marvel’s latest installment. There were areas where it could’ve been better, but all in all, it was a super fun and enjoyable experience. It has grown the spark set by “Fantastic Four: First Steps” into a flame as Marvel is heading into its biggest project yet this December, “Avengers: Doomsday.”