“Who’s the best Spider-Man?” is always the most frequently asked question in superhero films, and after watching Destin Cretton’s Brand New Day starring Tom Holland, you realize that every Spider-Man film is different and unique in its own way. Every adaptation tries to encapsulate the themes of sacrifice and heroism.
Is Brand New Day the greatest Spider-Man movie ever? Definitely not, but it definitely is Tom Holland’s best interpretation of the character, and he shows us a much more raw and emotional side of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. In this film, Peter is recovering from the events of No Way Home, where the passing of Aunt May and losing his friends force him into a period of isolation and loneliness.
This theme reminds us a lot of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 with Tobey Maguire, which is often regarded as one of the greatest superhero films of all time. Brand New Day is similar in its emotional aspects, as Peter is changing and becoming a more mature version of himself through his ability to produce organic webs and his heightened senses. Throughout the film, he tries to suppress these abilities because they can also become detrimental.
This film does an amazing job of placing Peter in an isolated position, making him feel more like a street-level Spider-Man, and paying homage to the older comics through its amazing cinematography, which is actually one of the film’s greatest strengths. However, despite so much hype, character development, and buildup, none of what happens in this film truly lands.
For one, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films have never had an iconic villain that is constantly remembered. The main villain in this film is Jean Grey, who has telepathic powers and tries to break into Damage Control to free her sister, who also possesses telepathic abilities. Jean is dismissed very easily, and instead of getting a satisfying final fight or an iconic villain, we’re given a very safe antagonist whom the audience is forced to relate to and sympathize.
The only thing we get from this villain is that Peter has to be himself and accept that he’s special; that he’s both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. It’s the same corny ending you get at the end of most superhero films, and it’s just unfortunate that with so much buildup and anticipation surrounding what would happen, it never really goes anywhere the way we thought it would.
Hulk also has an appearance in this movie, which doesn’t really make any sense and feels super random. Nonetheless, there’s a good fight scene in the midst of it, but Hulk is also dismissed and is never heard from again for the rest of the movie. Another example is MJ’s boyfriend, who only has one line and is never mentioned again, which becomes a weird pattern throughout the film.
Overall, this film does set up some pretty important pieces for future Spider-Man films, especially with the memory loss aspect. At the end of the movie, it’s alluded that Ned begins to recover his memories of Peter after they do their signature handshake. So it’s definitely interesting to see where they’ll take the next film, what it will look like, and how this more mature version of Spider-Man continues to evolve.
VUZE SCORE: 6.0/10
By Ed Roobi