“That is so cool!”
So exclaims our hero Peter Parker/Spider-Man at one point in the Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He’s awestruck at a particularly graceful and impressive maneuver by his enemies. It’s professional respect; superhuman prowess acknowledging superhuman prowess.
There are quite a few such magical moments in the film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Tom Holland is back as Pete/Spidey, whose existence, you may recall, was wiped from the memories of his pal Ned (Jacob Batalon) and more importantly his beloved MJ (Zendaya) in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, for their protection.
In this new chapter, set almost entirely in New York – though mostly shot in Scotland – Spidey is busily helping the cops apprehend freaky supervillains. But privately he’s haunted by his lack of a personal life, and he starts turning up at MJ and Ned’s parties.
He also crosses paths with The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh, droll as ever) and The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), among other Marvel heavy hitters. The antagonist this time is a telepath who gets around by jumping from body to body, something like the demon in the 1998 thriller Fallen, and the scenes of the chains of possession among pedestrians are striking.
Brand New Day is overambitious, spinning out in more directions than it’s able to do justice to. Inevitably, it seems a good half-hour too long. There’s a lot to like in the film, however; plenty of spectacle and action but also restrained, sweet scenes involving Peter’s yearning for MJ and his old life. Holland is openhearted and winning, and Zendaya’s heartfelt style makes her worthy of his adoration.
This gives Brand New Day a more ardent edge than some of the Marvel flicks. The scene in which Spidey carries MJ across the city via webslinging has some of the romance of the scenes of Christopher Reeve’s Superman carrying Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane through the air over Metropolis – and that, despite the somewhat overrun plot, is enough to trap us.
