Actor Tom Holland is having quite a summer. Fresh off his turn as Telemachus in the blockbuster “The Odyssey,” he dons the Spidey tights again for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” This marks Holland’s fourth standalone Spider-Man movie and his seventh time portraying the webslinger. Early box office returns for these two summer hits are reminiscent of Harrison Ford’s heyday as a box office superhero.
We last left the hero in 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” reeling from the death of his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). To protect his loved ones, he erased himself from the memories of his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and the love of his life MJ (Zendaya, also in “The Odyssey”). In “Brand New Day,” four years have passed. Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, lives in isolation, filling the void with an inexhaustible amount of crimefighting that has reduced New York City’s crime to historic lows. His only relationship is with a police detective, and even that is strictly non-personal.
The stress and loneliness trigger physical and psychological changes that Peter doesn’t understand. Meanwhile, a new villain emerges, possessing the minds of everyday citizens to target a government agency called Damage Control. Spidey teams up with other Marvel Universe characters to defeat the villain while dealing with his own internal changes and trying to reconnect with his friends.
“Brand New Day” delivers all the exciting, city-destroying action sequences expected in a Marvel movie. We never question if he will survive or eventually win. It’s the main fault of most superhero movies. After all, he repeatedly freefalls several stories onto concrete, walks away from the wrong end of a Hulk tirade and fights a team of super-ninjas all while barely getting a scratch. The movie elevates when it explores Peter’s psychological state and the pain of losing those closest to him.
The film mostly works on its own without a deep knowledge of comic books or previous movies. Plot exposition does a pretty good job recapping past events. It thankfully abandons the super-tech Spider-Man costumes of recent editions, making him truer to the original character. Jon Bernthal plays Frank Castle (The Punisher), who is never properly introduced and attempts to provide comic relief as Spidey’s sidekick with mixed results. Florence Pugh as the Black Widow is underutilized while Mark Ruffalo returns as Bruce Banner/The Hulk for some key scenes. Devoted fans will enjoy the Easter eggs and reveals hinting at future Marvel Universe movies.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is rated PG-13 for action violence and some language. It runs a fast-paced 2 hours and 25 minutes. My Spidey-sense tells me that this is a solid, maybe overstuffed, summer movie worthy of 3 out of 5 stars. While it won’t be remembered as the best in the series, it is a worthy entry into the Spider-Man canon.
