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I was kicking around the idea of whether or not to do a review for Spider-Man: Brand New Day as I’m pretty sure my lowly little website won’t make any impact on the blockbuster MCU franchise. Seeing as I am essentially a lifelong comic book nerd and superhero fanatic, I figured I’d weigh in and do a more in-depth analysis after I posted my initial reaction on social media. This will certainly be a hot take but like I’ve always said in the past, I could care less what others think and it’s my own opinion that truly matters (as it should for any) but this Sidey feature could possibly be my favorite big screen adaptation of everyone’s favorite web-slinger. I always back up what I say so if you don’t agree, well, revert back to when I said I could care less.
Yes, true believers, Brand New Day is hands down my favorite and it probably is top five of my all-time comic book movies as well. My top three has always been a source of argument for people but once again…well, you get it. Here’s an even greater hot take. Tom Holland is without a doubt my favorite live action interpretation of both Peter and Spidey. How about that?! I can hear the Toby Maguire fan base dropping to the floor as we speak. Let me clarify by saying that Toby and Andrew Garfield were sensational with their turns but it’s Tom that I see Peter the most in and it could be because he has had the most chances to play the iconic role, but Holland is Spider-Man and Peter Parker and his performance of both are ripped right from the pages of the comic books and I’ve been reading them since, oh I don’t know, 1976 or so.
With Brand New Day, this is the definitive movie for Peter and Spider-Man as Holland swings the character into a new era and he has, to put it in simple terms, grown up. This film is heartfelt, emotional, rollicking and bombastic all at the same time and Holland is clearly the face of why it all works. Nothing against previous director Jon Watts, but Shang-Chi helmer Destin Daniel Cretton should be the only one to direct Holland’s future installments as he has crafted the most grounded, human, pivotal take on the superhero than ever before. Yes, we had the death of Gwen Stacy which was a tear-jerking chef’s kiss in Garfield’s last turn but here it’s so much bigger and it excels an epic scale with viewers riding a wave of different emotions throughout the running time. I’m not going to lie as a Spidey movie that has himself as well as The Punisher and The Hulk in one scene made my inner child scream with sheer delight.
Brand New Day takes place four years after the events of No Way Home and here is a Peter Parker that is all alone and navigating a far different existence then he is used too. No one literally remembers who he is due to Doctor Strange’s existential fix for the multiverse collapse and with that Peter is finding out the hard way that he has to do everything by himself.
It is with Brand New Day that we finally get to see a gritty, grounded, street-level superhero and it excels the narrative nicely. Peter is no longer dealing with otherworld threats and genocide and is now tearing up NYC battling his rogue’s gallery of high-powered supervillains like Scorpion, Boomerang and Tombstone. Spider-Man is now doing it all on his own with no high-level Stark technology that we saw in earlier films that elicited more like he was a younger Iron Man then everyone’s favorite neighborhood spider. Parker still utilizes the AI intelligence named E.D.I.T.H. (voiced by Naomi Watts) and still has a pretty sweet setup in his lair but it’s nothing near what he had while teamed up with Tony. This is the MCU version of Spider-Man we have been waiting for.
The movie hits the ground running from the get-go and the action is unleashed within the first few minutes, as the audience is immersed with our favorite web slinger Spider-Man taking on city wide crime that has engulfed New York City and in doing so, Spidey has apprehended wave after wave of criminal and super criminal to boot. This roller coaster montage of superhero butt kicking features several old school villains from the comics and Cretton infuses many shots that are live action interpretations of some of the most famous Spider-Man comic covers ever. It’s a bona fide love letter to the hero and where he came from.
There is even an epic action set piece that involves a battle tank, and we get to see that Holland’s Spider-Man has some sordid history with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. To see these two interact was the stuff of dreams and fans will be pleased to know that Bernthal features prominently in the story and isn’t just an extended cameo. Now taking on criminals and fighting crime is nothing new for the iconic superhero but this is indeed a new day as he does it all without the help of anyone anymore. There is no back up, no emotional support and most important of all, no Aunt May. Peter doesn’t have his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) or the love of his life MJ (Zendaya) either and that is hard hitting for the first act of the film, and it adds so much emotional layers to Peter that it elevates the character. You just wanna give him a hug and tell him that it’s all going to be OK.
Well, as luck would have it, Peter runs into Ned one night as the latter is buying alcohol for a building party and with that Peter accompanies him to said party where he finally runs into MJ. It’s a bittersweet moment as Peter along with the audience know of the history between these three but Ned and MJ do not which makes it a true gut punch. This sequence is pivotal as it sets up Peter’s true mental state but also foreshadows what he will have to face soon with a new villain that is unlike anything he has seen before.
Oh, there is also the fact that there is something terribly wrong with Peter as his body is starting to go through changes to say the lease. There’s stuff coming out of him. he’s getting migraines and passing out only to wake up not knowing what the hell happened. To deal with this, Peter seeks out the help of one Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and tries to pick his brain about genetic mutation and what could be happening to him. Did I say mutation? Hmmmm. Foreshadowing maybe?
The new threat in this entry comes in the form of a mysterious figure who is able to drop into the minds of anyone they please. This leads to numerous chaotic moments and it’s clear that the MCU has seen nothing like this. How do you fight someone who could very well be anyone? Now that’s a scary situation and one that has Peter stumped along with what is happening physically to him.
That’s all I’ll say about the plot as this initial review is non spoiler as always, but I will say that Brand New Day doesn’t disappoint and gives fans and mainstream audiences alike what they want to see. There is a new threat, new dangers, new characters and new and creative ways to see Spidey swing into action and take on the bad guys that will give you the feel goods. I’ve heard some rumblings that the movie is all over the place and doesn’t know what to do with the material, but I only have one question for those people. What movie were you watching? I mean that with respect but Brand New Day couldn’t have been any more cohesive and laid out and Cretton steers the ship with near perfection.
While many have said that merging the R rated action of The Punisher with the more friendly environment and world of Spider-Man would not be a good fit, this couldn’t have been any farther from the truth. You all know that these two characters have a storied history in the comics together. I mean The Punisher premiered in the pages of Spider-Man so if anyone cries foul with this pairing…well, you just don’t know the characters and where they came from and have no business in talking about any of this so goodbye and thanks for coming.
With everything that is sensational with Brand New Day, it really is the retro buddy action vibes that Holland and Bernthal generate that was the standout for me. The two are best friends in real life and have even helped each other get the roles they are doing now so that real life chemistry flows onto the screen and these two need to be together on screen much, much more in the future. Bernthal steals the show and his scenes with MJ are what really cook and something I didn’t know I needed. After all that Bernthal’s Frank Castle has been through, especially with his recent special Punisher: One Last Kill, I feel that with this movie, he is truly where he wants to be both physically and mentally and he has without question taken on the mantle of The Punisher. This is a more relaxed Frank, but we still get those moments where we know just how damaged he is.
With all the emotional layers that are thrust upon us here, Cretton does make sure that the action sequences still pop and explode off the screen. I will say that I saw the movie on the advanced screening night in 4DX 3-D and it truly was one hell of an experience. While this Spider-Man film is more human driven, it’s still the action thar defines the story as well and with that we have several set pieces that really cook.
If present me went back into time and told ten year old me that one day there would be a live action movie where both Spider-Man and The Punisher took on the Hulk, I would have said you were crazy but here we are. The sequence delivers everything and more and if I had to nitpick, I would say it was too short but that’s coming from a comic book nerd who would have taken 90 minutes alone of these three fighting onscreen. My inner child was screaming as soon as Bernthal rampaged in blasting off with his Saw weapon spraying countless rounds of ammo into Hulk and it was truly magnificent and special all at the same time. Also, Savage Hulk is back, and back big-time baby and he is a welcome site as the formidable green bad boy destroys everything and anything in his sight
The finale contains the best Spider-Man action sequence ever (in my opinion anyway) and it has a lone Peter battling the ninjas of the Hand. This is a defining moment with the character of Peter Parker as he essentially transforms into something else while taking on the warriors and having the action design by the Jackie Chan Stunt team only enhances the beatdown aesthetics. Jackie himself even showed up on set to put his blistering stamp of approval on it, and it is glorious.
I won’t say much about Sadie Sink as her role is a mystery (even though everyone knows who she was playing months before the movie came out) but she does a great job with her new role that clearly ushers in a new dawn of the MCU and there’s that word again…mutation…Hmmmm. Sink really is one of Hollywood’s best younger actresses and she has a very bright future here and where that character will go. Yeah, she is who you think she is.
The film is shot vibrantly which is a superior change of pace from other recent superhero films like Supergirl and Cretton along with Brett Pawlak evoke colors and hues that radiate and enhance what is going on. Returning also is composer Michael Giacchino and here he brings a little bit of nostalgia along with new elements to cement a soundtrack that is comic book superhero worthy.
If I had to weigh in on the negatives, it would be that there is no real villain at play here. Sure, Sadie Sink’s character starts off as one, but she is clearly more sympathetic as to what happened to her and when the real threat is revealed, it is sort of a letdown as that threat is just misguided and misinformed. Now, I will also say that Sink’s character does do some pretty horrible things and pretty much is exonerated of them so that might be a sour pill for a lot of viewers. Was it a great choice to introduce her and have her do these unimaginable things with the hopes that we love her later? Probably but we’ll see where it goes and I will say that it’s ballsy to have her do some horrendous stuff and she is just acclimating herself to the MCU.
Would this film have benefited from Spider-Man taking on a rogue’s gallery? We do get the fast montage at the beginning where Peter is taking down all the familiar faces, and I feel that some of those villains sticking around for a longer period would have satisfied more hardcore fans looking for more comic book worthy plot points. Maybe and maybe not, but there are enough high stakes here to warrant the drama and there is still a threat to eliminate and what Spider-man has to face, and battle is still engaging and most importantly street level.
Another stinker with the movie is the post credits scene AKA the stinger scene. Waiting almost ten minutes for what they gave us what complete and utter garbage. Yes, I’m well aware that there is significance to it but the way they handled it was bottom barrel. Do not bother staying when the credits roll because you will be disappointed. On a grand scale. Doesn’t change the fact that this is tried and true peak Marvel and MCU and this has increased my excitement level for Doomsday, and it definitely moved the needle to see how they handle the next entry as well as Secret Wars.
Overall, with these minor gripes, Spider-Man Brand New Day is proof positive that comic book movie fatigue doesn’t exist. Only bad movie fatigue. This Spidey flick is loaded with humor, heart and breathtaking epic action sequences that look like they exploded right out of the pages of golden age Marvel Comics. It’s grounded, street level legit and fun and this is definitely your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Everyone has their favorite onscreen Peter Parker but mine is Mr. Holland. Sorry for all you fans of the others but Tom resonates everything I love about Peter Parker and he nails it here. Jon Bernthal isn’t underused and The Punisher has his moments aplenty to deploy his tactical testosterone. His bromance with Holland is buddy action awesome and these two need to make their own Spidey/Punisher adventure STAT! Savage Hulk is back with ferocious theatrics and Spider-Man’s battle with the Ninjas of The Hand is Jackie Chan approved. Hot take but this is now my favorite Spider-Man flick and as someone who has been reading these comics longer than a lot of you have been alive, you won’t change my mind so don’t bother. It’ll be futile. Until next time true believers!
VERDICT: 4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
Spider-Man is back and with him the MCU which is now headed in the right direction, This Spider-Man has heart, emption and enough bombastic set pieces to save the day!
