What’s it about?
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is a big sad boy because his friends don’t remember him, so he throws himself into his work as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man (also Tom Holland). This starts to take a physical and mental toll, exacerbated by a mysterious villain that he can’t seem to get a read on.
What’d we think?
Spider-Man is a grown-up now, and while Brand New Day definitely takes a step in a more mature direction, it doesn’t make the mistake of confusing maturity with dark, brooding cynicism. Peter is still the good-natured kid from Queens he’s always been, but he’s suppressing his feelings by throwing himself into his work, and dealing with some spider-adjacent physical changes on top of all of that.
For better or worse, superhero movies will frequently stray from their comic-book roots, but Brand New Day is one of the best examples of a movie evoking the spirit of the medium without needing to draw from a specific storyline. Spider-Man’s New York is packed with colourful costumed villains, the NYPD see him as an ally, and the people of the city revere him as a beloved hero. There’s an opening montage which establishes this (frankly delightful) status quo, and sensibly doesn’t feel the need to mess with it. The character’s internal conflict is more than enough to keep you hooked, and the scenes of Peter Parker working through his issues are just as interesting as the web-swinging. The internal conflict isn’t enough punishment for poor Peter, so he also has to deal with a great new villain who hops around possessing the people of New York, both denying him an enemy to hit and providing some fun opportunities for day players to be the villain for 30 seconds at a time.
As much as he tries to be a solitary spider, Peter gets some tangential support from the hero community (the specifics of whom I won’t mention for spoilery reasons), as well as reluctant assistance from Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), who turns out to be one of the highlights of the movie. Spidey and Frank have an established rapport, and while their bickering is a constant source of chuckles, they also share some of the film’s most effective character moments. The context around the movie’s emotional high points makes them too spoilery to go into, but they really don’t pull any punches in handling the realistic outcomes that result from the fantastical nature of Peter’s issues.
Brand New Day keeps the themes of power and responsibility in its heart, but chooses to focus on choices and consequences to deliver its most effective moments. This all makes it sound rather serious, but it’s still heaps of fun, and proves that Spider-Man is still the heart of the superhero genre.
