Summary: A forgotten Peter Parker lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change, and a powerful new enemy emerges.
Mild spoilers but nothing that wasn’t shown in the trailers. I might do a spoiler review later. This review is probably going to be short because of this lol.
Pros:
Cast and Characters.
- Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man. In this outing, Peter is experiencing the consequences of “No Way Home” in which no one remembers who Peter Parker is. So, he’s spending his days Spider-Manning around. He’s solely focused on protecting New York City from street level crime, throwing himself into his tech, into training and helping people. While doing this, he keeps tabs on Ned and MJ as they move on with their lives without him. As this happens, he begins to experience an evolution in his superpowers, causing his eyes to turn black among other things. But I can’t get into more without spoiling so… I’ve always liked Tom Holland’s portrayal of the character, I think people tend to be hard on him because they don’t like his proximity to the Avengers and other MCU characters, which I don’t particularly understand because Spider-Man has worked alongside so many heroes over the years. I think they’ve done a great job with his arc and brought him to this point in his life. Tom is really great here; I think this is probably my favorite performance of his as this character. He’s so emotionally raw in places while also trying to keep everything under control without actually keeping things under control. There’s always a sadness behind his eyes, especially whenever he has intense character interactions. He’s so good in the role and I hope we can get TWO more Spider-Man movies from him. I have thoughts. Tom, please.
- Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher. Frank Castle is a vigilante (the Punisher) who fights criminal by any means necessary, which puts him at odds a lot of the time with Spider-Man. They don’t agree on how to handle criminal situations… but this is also why they work so well. Of course, with this being a PG-13 movie and not a M-rated tv show, he has to be a little toned down and I think they do a good job with maintaining who he is but for this kind of movie. He’s crass, foul mouthed, angry and trigger happy. But I appreciate how as the movie progresses, he has Peter’s back. I haven’t watched The Punisher show and I don’t remember if I got far enough in Daredevil to experience Jon Bernthal’s previous performances, but I think he’s great. He has great chemistry with Tom Holland for one thing, which makes sense as they’ve worked on movies together in the past. He gets a lot of laughs in the movie but there’s also a lot of heart and emotional beats in his moments as well.
- Zendaya as Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson. MJ, along with Ned, attended MIT and they’re roommates now. Even though they don’t acknowledge the fact that Peter was the mutual friend between them, I like how close they are to each other still. We don’t see a ton of MJ at the start outside of Peter watching Ned’s stories. When we get to see her later, I appreciate how she’s grown but still maintained the personality that she’s always had. Zendaya’s had an amazing year, and her momentum hasn’t slowed down in this one. She’s great. She has great facial expressions, great chemistry with everyone she encounters in the movie, she’s funny and great with emotional moments.
- Sadie Sink. I’m sure those who haven’t seen the movie yet have their theories on who she’s playing but I won’t share that. But I will say that I knew exactly who she might play when she was cast, not to mention, the nature of some of the mystery at the start. But she’s great. I’ve been impressed with her acting since Stranger Thing season 4, in particular and she’s so good at emotional moments. I hope we get to see more of her.
- Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds. Ned is Peter’s former best friend who attended MIT with MJ. They’re roommates during the events of the movie. I can’t get into what he’s doing in the movie but he’s great too. He’s still the same and Jacob Batalon is great.
Action Sequences. When I say this, I’m talking about the fights but also the movement that’s going on. Again, spoilers but just know that I really appreciated how they showcased through extras coordination and sound design this particular thing that was happening in the movie. All of the fight scenes are great, especially when Peter is trying to figure out how to adjust to what’s happening to him. I like the camera choices, how we’re able to see the fight scenes, how the Hand is utilized as magic ninjas and showcasing their movement. The web swinging is probably the best it’s been so far, the most dynamic to watch. If you saw this movie in 4DX, I’m sure you can attest to being flung all over the place. Big shoutout to Xiangyang Xu for being the fight coordinator!
Emotional/Heavy Beats. One thing Spider-Man always does well to me is handle heavy emotional beats and BND isn’t any different. I didn’t cry or anything, but I can understand why some people would. It’s already sad because Peter is effectively alone because the people he loved and who loved him don’t remember him so he can’t even go to them when he needs them. He has to watch from a distance and feel isolation. I think that’s handled really well. A big chunk of the emotional bits come from the baggage with MJ (and Ned) and Tom Holland (and Zendaya) playing these moments so well. It’s an attribute to their chemistry as actors that really makes these moments rise to the top. Sadie Sink’s character also has great emotional beats in the latter half of the movie. Also, Jon Bernthal as Frank, gets to have some moments too.
It’s Funny. Surprisingly a lot of the laughter comes from Frank Castle (the Punisher) but also his interactions with Peter. They had great chemistry and were hilarious whenever they interacted. There are moments that are funny, that are either characters reacting to things or things happening in the background. It wasn’t heavy handed since there was a lot of sadness in there too but a nice balance.
Direction/Cinematography/Tone. Destin Daniel Cretton is the director, and Brett Pawlak is the cinematographer, and they work together a lot, which shows considering how well the movie looks and follows Peter’s story. I think the movie has a melancholic and realistic tone while existing in this superhero universe. That’s important for Spider-Man. I loved the end credits, and how it showed the people of New York with chill music. The web slinging was great, I liked a lot of the moments we were inside Peter’s mask, looking at his eyes. I also loved how often we could see his eyes through his lenses. In certain fight scenes, the camera would move the same way Peter would move, which was cool. Cretton also directed Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which I remember really liking how the fight scenes were filmed in that. I hope he continues to direct the remaining Spider-Man movies.
Cons:
Storytelling. On my first viewing, I felt the story didn’t flow as well as it could’ve. I think there are a lot of story threads happening in the movie that are fantastic on their own but are a little clunky on how they come together. I’ve seen some criticisms saying it’s half an hour too long and I disagree, I just don’t know if the full time is utilized well with the elements being showcased. I also think is a little crazy but it’s not distracting that I felt the runtime of the movie, but I was aware of it. My second viewing, these thoughts remained but since I knew what was going to happen, I settled in for the ride better… if that makes sense. If the movie was shorter, I think it’d be an okay movie and not a great movie.
Consequences. I can’t get too much into this because it would be spoilers but there are a few things that happen in the movie where characters, Peter in a lot of those moments, didn’t catch any actual consequences. When he starts experiencing his changes, some things happen that results in “slap on the wrist” if that and while I think it’s great set up for future stories, it’s kind of crazy how Peter doesn’t get into trouble for some of his actions. Or how the movie seems to skirt by some of the harm/damage done to people. There’s a sequence that’s lowkey shocking, but no one says anything about it.
Things that aren’t addressed but should be. Minor Spoilers? These might be some nitpicks, but I think they’re necessary to address for Peter Parker/Spider-Man: Does Peter have finances somewhere? Obviously with him being erased as Peter Parker, he can’t really claim anything that Aunt May might’ve left him, right? I’m not sure how that works but I feel like that would be a problem. I imagine that Tony would’ve left stuff for him too, that could explain the technology he has or the access to materials to build his tech. Or since Spider-Man is still known, he could have access just by proxy of having been an Avenger. But I think they could’ve addressed this with a throwaway line. Or if he has a job, I assumed he might with a shirt he wears but I also wondered if it was just a nod because we don’t see anything or nothing is actually said. A shirt can mean anything. Even if there’s a text on his phone saying “you’re late” or whatever.
Overall, I really liked Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I have no idea where it fits in my rankings, one day I’ll rewatch all the movies and decide then. But I liked it a lot. I liked where the story was going with Peter specifically. I liked the somber/melancholic tone the movie has most of the time. The acting is great across the board. Tom Holland continues to be great in this role, and I really want to get two more movies out of him because there are a couple of plots, I want to see him do specifically. Everyone else is great too. I didn’t have a certain place to put this, but I also think Spider-Man’s suit is great here. I’ll have to decide officially later but it might be the best one in the live action movies. The movement choreography is great, the direction, the look of the film, the soundtrack is all so solid. I had a great time. My issues lie with the storytelling and feeling like it didn’t flow into each other the way everything could. Not to mention, things that aren’t addressed or consequences that make sense to have happened but didn’t. In the end though, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a great continuation of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man/Peter Parker and I’m excited to see what happens next. Tom… you can’t leave yet.
Rating: I’m hovering at a 3.8 – 4.0 but haven’t officially decided yet.
I can’t believe I never did a trailer reaction for this movie but I’m going to do better!
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