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After the multiverse condemned Peter Parker to a life of forlorn loneliness at the conclusion of No Way Home, the film that saw Holland’s Parker team-up Sony’s other Spider-Men in a thrilling, albeit messy, birthing of limitless possibility for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, its ending promised a return to Spider-Man as a street-level hero. Brand New Day is exactly that as it reframes Holland’s once plucky Peter as a hero whose need for community and friends to lean on too often takes a backseat to his desire to keep his friends safe. It’s a cautionary reminder that no burden is worth shouldering alone, and Holland’s performance is amazing, establishing him, beyond doubt, as the best to ever don the suit.
After being forgotten by the world, and those close to him, Peter throws himself into his work as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. This conceit alone makes Brand New Day one of the strongest Spider-Man films yet because of its unrelenting focus on the street-level “small potatoes” crime, as Yelena jokes. It feels laser-focused and authentically Spider-Man in a way Jon Watts’ films rarely did. New York and its people are, once again, core to the experience in a way I’ve not felt since maybe the iconic crane scene from Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
Although the film’s through line focuses on repeated attacks on the Department of Control’s sites throughout the city, the most fascinating side-plot comes via Peter’s intense genetic mutation, which enhances his arachnid strands to a point of imbalance, which is brought on by Peter’s lack of human connection. It’s a great commentary on the damaging effect isolation has, particularly in the transition into adulthood. Brand New Day is the most mature Spider-Man has been with Holland beneath the mask, and I enjoyed the interpretation of his Peter losing control as a result of the trauma brought on profound loss. I only last week said Holland couldn’t hang with the big stars in Chris Nolan’s The Odyssey, but he locks in here with one of his best performances as the webslinger.
Although I wouldn’t want to risk spoiling the worst kept secret in movie history, all I’ll say is that Sadie Sink also eats in her role despite my belief that her character’s power set could have been used, or even weaponised, in a more interesting way. It’s nonsensical to say as Marvel drags the frail frame of Patrick Stewart out for one last dance, but it’s encouraging that the future of the cinematic universe is in sound hands as talent like Sink enter the frame. The Punisher has been a bit of a blind spot for me admittedly, but I found Jon Bernthal’s gruff, hyper-aggro meathead shtick an unexpectedly funny foil for Peter’s relatively plucky demeanour. And although it might prove to be his last hurrah as he continues to butt heads with Disney, Mark Ruffalo will be able to say he went out on a high note.
At almost two and a half hours, Brand New Day is a bit of a behemoth—especially given it doesn’t have to navigate the cross-continuum silliness that No Way Home did. Although I’m not sure where it could have trimmed some fat, it did feel long; however, I was never bored. There were enough unexpected swerves to hold my interest, including one in the middle of the film that almost hit Michael Keaton answering the door levels of suspense. In addition to being a sublime Spider-Man story, the film ushers in a new era for the universe and begins to blaze a trail for something people have been hoping for, and expecting, from Marvel.
One area Brand New Day absolutely out-muscles its predecessors is its action and stunt choreography. After his work directing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Destin Daniel Cretton felt like an all-too-natural fit for Spider-Man and his fluid, fast-paced movement. There are so many exceptional shots in Brand New Day, often elevated by oft-used slow-motion, that feel torn from the pages of one of Spider-Man’s countless comic runs. Like Shang-Chi, the film’s choreography is based in martial arts and its inherent, kinetic flow. As the stunts coordinator, Peng Zhang is undoubtedly the film’s secret weapon, opting for grounded theatricality and acrobatics over CGI where possible. The prison brawl against The Hand, which featured prominently in the film’s ads, is arguably the film’s standout set piece.
Michael Giacchino’s score for Brand New Day is as brilliant as you’d expect from a composer that’s been doing it as long as he has. It has hints of his usual triumphant style, but it does pair nicely with the film’s themes of isolation, including a sorrowful reinvention of the character’s theme. The audio production, at times, was unbelievable, almost acting as the main character in depicting Peter’s heightened senses—the unexpected boom of a chip packet dragging across the rooftop sold wholesale the intensity of Peter’s struggle. Hulk’s Thunderclap had a pant-shitting enormity to it that felt like an earned pay-off to almost a decade of mishandling the character.
Lastly, if you’re a person that’s hellbent on waiting around for the post-credits scene, don’t expect the near fifteen-minute wait to be worthwhile. It’s a mix of usual Spider-Man gag and genuine tease as it makes use of Ned’s comical Spider-Man tracker app as an alert pings out in the void of space. It’s a fun enough nod to the upcoming Doomsday and Secret Wars duology, if you’re able to ignore the utter abandonment of logic within the joke.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day does feel as though the beginning of something new and exciting. Holland, after three films of skewing younger, feels as though he’s earned the “Man” suffix in the character’s name, while the introduction of Sadie Sink’s character will have enormous implications going forward. Brand New Day is the best of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, and I sincerely hope Marvel back the truck up to Cretton, and his team, and sign them up for the next go around.