By: Jamie Steinberg
We all know it’s tough to be a superhero and Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to reinforce that ideal. This Peter Parker understands and acknowledges the price that comes with being someone tasked with saving the day. While the Spider-Man franchise is known for its action and adventure, the newest film also takes time to explore the drawbacks to serving as a savior.
When we last left Peter Park (Tom Holland) in Spider-Man: No Way Home our hero had to make a tough decision about zapping the world’s knowledge of events. Yes, they remember that Spider-Man saved their lives back in the day, but they don’t remember the true identity of the man behind the mask. We pick up with Peter being emo about his inability to do anything else other than fight crime and come home to binge watch Ned’s Reels on his couch. Our dude is isolated and lonely, something even Detective DeWolff (Liza Colon-Zayas) notices. However, he is forced to confront his grief about losing MJ (Zendaya) when a new baddie shows up to town kicking off some sort of uncontrollable transformation within Peter – one that leads him to Dr. David Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in search of answers. This new villain can jump from body to body and their sights are set on something or someone that is being contained at Damage Control. Add in an appearance by The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Sadie Sink as someone we won’t reveal and it sure seems like the MCU can color us intrigued.
Destin Daniel Cretton steps in as director for this new film in the Spider-Man franchise. Rather than interject with bits of Spidey humor as we’ve come to love with these movies, there is more of a serious tone here. Sure, when The Punisher attempts to drop the curse words he is known for making we see Spider-Man sling a web to cover his mouth – allowing for a more kid friendly watch. However, for the most part things are more dreary for our hero who is in his feelings, which is even reflected in the choices made by Cinematographer Brett Pawlak.
Holland excels, as usual, at bringing the dramatics. This latest in the film franchise might even be his best performance yet as Spidey. The inner conflict reads so well on Peter’s face and that is certainly a tribute to Holland’s acting skills. Of course, the chemistry with Peter and MJ is ever present and we love when pal Ned (Jacob Batalon) adds to the humanity of our hero. My only qualm with the movie being that 140 minutes of run time was a little bit on the long side, but if Spider-Man: Brand New Day may have needed that much space to prep for possible future iterations to come.
For those looking for our hero to once again put on a brave face and fight crime, this might not be the film for you; however, Spider-Man: Brand New Day delivers on the action and adventure you love from the MCU. Yes, this one is sure to be another big hit for the fans, but be prepared to explore the darker side to the life of a superhero as it’s not always sunshine and rainbows.