During the Infinity Saga I considered myself an MCU fan. During the Multiverse Saga I downgraded to just casual fan. Nowadays, I consider myself a passive observer. I had fallen out of love with this universe because of all the “quantity over quality” rake-stepping in recent, from Disney+ to cinemas. But Spider-Man: Brand New Day feels like a film that learned from past MCU mistakes, reconjuring the Marvel mojo. The result? An exciting, action-packed, funny, and emotional superhero film. Perhaps the best of Holland’s Spidey.
What I liked most about this film is the return to character-specific storytelling. Brand New Day certainly has notable connective tissue within the broader MCU heading into Doomsday. But it’s not a multiverse clusterfuck for the sake of multiversemaxxing. It’s in New York. Side characters are Spidey-relevant. The web-slinging crime-fighting returns to everyday bank robberies and the like. And most importantly of all, the emphasis on the emotional core of Holland’s tenure behind the mask: his relationship with MJ and Ned. Peter Parker’s complex quest to balance protecting those he loves whilst also trying to reconnect with them was very compelling, especially the very last scene of the film. It brought a huge smile to my face.
The action set pieces were also great. When Spidey fights The Hand, it’s just mesmerizing fight choreography. Sometimes shit is just cool as hell, and this scene in particular certainly, was. The return to focusing on NYC-web slinging and NYC culture was very palpable. New York as a city and its citizens are incredibly important elements to the trials and tribulations of this character. And without multiverse nonsense, it just works so much better.
I do quibble with a couple things. Firstly, Hulk’s supporting inclusion is now officially a crutch to advance scientific plot points AND to insert a scene where the damage of his angry wrath is out of control. This rinse-and-repeat narrative mechanism is quite apparent now and, while cool in-action, doesn’t add much storytelling value. He just constantly obliterates buildings, causing tens of millions of dollars in property damage, and everyone is just like “eh, it’s OK. See you at class, professor!” I’m kinda over it. Overall, the visual effects are very well done, but there are a few scenes where the NYC backdrop is obviously green screen and, after seeing Christoper Nolan’s The Odyssey six times, it makes me long for and frustrated with the lack of practical location shooting.
In the end, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a success for Marvel Studios and Sony. It’s a return to form for the franchise as a whole. It’s a reaffirmation that Holland, Zendaya, etc. still have the goods. There are a lot of SPOILER-ridden elements that I’d like to praise as well, but I’ll let you check that out for yourself. Which you should.
