Spider-Man: Brand New Day has finally swung into South African theatres as one of the most anticipated movies of the year. This is the fourth Spidey-titled film featuring Tom Holland in the red and blue and the first one not to have a variation of the word ‘home’ in the title.
If you’ve seen anything from Marvel lately, you’ll know more or less what to expect. That’s both a good thing and part of what lets the film down. That said, it’s still a mostly fun time, and not the worst way to spend 145 minutes. Especially if you’re watching on a big screen.
Spidey’s story
As the title more than hints at, this is a sort of soft reboot for Spidey. At the end of No Way Home, and with the help of Dr Strange, Peter Parker manages to make everyone forget that he’s Spider-Man. That was all in the name of saving reality, but it came with that great responsibility we’ve heard so much about.
The responsibility weighs heavily on Peter, who channels the lonely sad-boy energy he never got to experience as a teen with friends and superpowers. Ultimately, it doesn’t last long. Without spoiling too much, friendship wins in the end — there’s nothing an elaborate handshake can’t fix. But we do get a few heartfelt moments from the friendship trio — Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds and Zendaya as MJ — before we get there.
Here, unlike the previous Spidey films, they’re more focused on the emotional stakes and less reliant on getting a quick laugh. Said emotional stakes are mostly thanks to Zendaya’s grounded portrayal of a grown-up MJ and Holland’s best portrayal of Spider-Man to date.
Staying with familiar faces, Mark Ruffalo’s Dr Bruce Banner/Hulk shows up and serves as an ‘I know what you’re going through’ mentor for Peter, and later, to smash things. John Bernthal’s Punisher is the closest friend Peter has, and even though he didn’t have anything to tell us, he does what he does best — roars and shoots things. Florence Pugh also gets a few minutes on-screen as Black Widow, although she’s mostly used as the ‘hint’ button when Spidey has a problem.
The big secret
Sadie Sink’s casting is no secret, although her character has been kept under wraps for the most part. A trip to the movie’s IMDB page will ruin the big reveal if you haven’t seen it. But if you have, you’ll know the reveal doesn’t feel very big in the context of this movie and seems kinda obvious in hindsight given the casting choice. Getting more screen time for Michael Mando’s Scorpion or Tramell Tillman’s Bill Metzger, the morally questionable head of the department of Damage Control, would’ve been great. They disappeared as quickly as they showed up.
That could apply to most of the story beats here, which are served to us in neat chunks that go down too quickly. Peter’s problem with his powers is brought up, and sort of explained as a natural Spider process (a Keith David voiceover is always welcome), then it’s resolved after a meeting with Bruce and thanks to Peter’s cool tech. On to the next thing.
Sadie Sink’s big bad villain is intriguing at first, with her mysterious motivations and ability to possess the mind of anyone in range (except Spider-Man, of course). But this too is resolved, as it turns out she’s not actually a villain after all, just misunderstood.
The urgency in Sink’s portrayal comes across well enough, as far as the screenplay allows. She and Holland share one of the movie’s most emotional scenes, and the pair prove that the casting director knows what they’re doing, but everything kind of fizzles out by the time the credits roll. We can only hope for a bigger payout later, as the MCU unfolds and all the gears in the Marvel machine turn towards Avengers: Doomsday.
New day, new director
This might be Destin Daniel Cretton’s first go at the helm of a Spider-Man film, but he isn’t a stranger to the MCU, having previously directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. We were grateful for the experience he brings, and his penchant for practical filmmaking as far as possible for a superhero movie. Yes, there are scenes where the CGI is placed front and centre, but there are also scenes done practically, with fantastic wirework on display. We’d suggest not watching Nolan’s The Odyssey just before this one.
With the help of cinematographer Brett Pawlak, the action set pieces are ambitious and consistently well-executed. We particularly enjoyed the clever camera work in some scenes, and the new moveset Spidey shows off that looks to be taken right out of the recent videogame. This might be one of the best-looking films from the MCU in recent years.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day verdict
Spider-Man: Brand New Day starts out feeling more like a Peter Parker movie than one about Spider-Man. After years of mostly misses from the MCU, that was something we were more than ready for. Eventually, though, the story gets tangled in the confusing web of strands that underpin the MCU. That probably won’t register as an issue for die-hard fans who have seen everything to date. If you haven’t been keeping up since Endgame, you may need to do some research.
But if Brand New Day shows us anything, it’s that you don’t need endless cameos and tons of interconnected material to pull off a good superhero film. What really matters is what made these stories resonate with people before they were put to film: grounded, nuanced characters whose greatest fights aren’t always those fought in their coloured tights.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now showing in South African theatres.
