Rating of
3.5/4
Get Back Into the Swing of Things
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/12/26
What do you do when the world has forgotten who you are? Peter Parker (Tom Holland) fully embraces his role as Spider-Man - in the opening sequence alone he is seen taking down Tombstone (Marvin Jones III in a much-too small cameo), Ramrod and even The Hand while also following his former friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and former girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) via social media as they enjoy a college life he should be sharing with them.
But mostly, Peter is very much alone - he brings flowers to the late Aunt May's (Marisa Tomei) grave and the only meaningful conversation he ever seems to have is with his AI companion E.V. (voiced by Naomi Watts). He has others in his life - including a helpful detective in Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) and an amiable, if strained, relationship with The Punisher himself (Jon Bernthal) - and yet keeps everyone out of his personal life. Things take a strange turn when he encounters a new foe - one that can leap from body-to-body and seems to have a fixation on a company called Damage Control. While he can initially seem to sense this new threat, a chance encounter with Ned leads him to a housewarming party where he reconnects - only to find MJ with a new boyfriend - and that seems to awaken something inside.
Now dealing with super-heightened senses and apparently build-in webbing, he seeks out the renowned Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to figure out how he keeps the Hulk under control - and if he can do the same for his arachnid mutation. Despite thinking he knows what is going on, there is always a twist - and when he finally tracks down the mind-leaping menace - it turns out to be more complicated than taking down a new baddie.
The MCU Spider-Man films have always stood at the pinnacle of the long-running franchise. One of the biggest reasons is while they are connected to the overall series, they also work well as their own set of films - much like Guardians of the Galaxy. It also benefits from a knock-out cast, Holland, Zendaya and Batalon continue to form a great emotional core. While some think Bernthal's Punisher was too watered down for this PG-13 outing, I thought he worked well with Holland and was a great addition. Likewise, Ruffalo is there to provide a link and also provides one of the best fight scenes in the film. Of course the biggest new addition to our crew is Sadie Sink - no spoilers here - just saying that the character she plays a great take on a familiar name and I'm excited to see where she goes in the future.
Brand New Day is mostly about Peter coming to terms with his new life - and realizing that maybe shutting himself off from the world isn't the answer. Human connection is something we all need - not through a screen or a phone but actually coming together, no matter how hard it may be. To lose one's humanity is truly a frightening thing, much like Peter's transformation, but if you try to suppress it, it only makes things worse. And if you can find humanity in someone who has buried it - perhaps redemption is possible for them as well.
While not every MCU film has been a failure sense Endgame, certainly the overall direction has been miss rather than hit. Brand New Day proves that you can always count on your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to save the day and he continues to do so in a fashion that has both emotional stakes and plenty of action and fun.
