Spider-Man Brand New Day spoilers review: Without chaperones the wall-crawler slips up | Films | Entertainment

This review contains full spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Tom Holland previously stated he might be “doing something wrong” if he was still playing Marvel’s premier superhero, Spider-Man in his 30s. Now, aged 30, he has rebranded his comments, and seemingly put a lot more effort and thought into this new instalment of his franchise. So then, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the first ‘4’ movie for the web-head in history. That doesn’t mean it’s any easier for the film to stand up, though.

The first chunk of Brand New Day focuses on Peter’s struggle with grief while trying to be the best superhero possible. He fights, he quips, he skips sleep and self-care to adhere to the responsibility his power demands. It changes pretty quickly when a new threat emerges.

A faceless, nameless being begins possessing innocent bystanders, looking for a secret substance. Ultimately, it is revealed Jean Grey (yes, that one) is causing havoc to find her sister (only seen in a flashback, murdered off-screen). And while Sadie Sink gives it her all, she’s not given much to work with.

That’s the inherent vice with Spider-Man: He’s only ever as good as the villain he is pitted against. It was just as true for Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, as well. From Willem Defoe and Alfred Molina to Michael Keaton and Rhys Ifans, they each embodied villains that were either downright awful or truly tormented. It was a thrill to watch them.

As a result, Tom Holland’s version of the wall-crawler feels entirely muted in Brand New Day.

Jean Grey is fascinating to Marvel fans as she’s the first real look we’ve had at the forthcoming MCU rendition of the X-Men. But as a villain, she cannot stand out. She can’t threaten the planet or timeline (how would we root for her in the future?) and she can’t die because we barely know who she is. So what does she do? Well, nothing, really; Jean demonstrates her monolithic power and exposes the truth about (gasp!) an evil corporation.

So then, it falls on the slew of side-characters to make Spider-Man: Brand New Day shine. And shine Tom Holland does! His scenes with The Punisher, The Incredible Hulk and indeed Black Widow are in equal measure funny, endearing, plot-savvy and exciting. As soon as Spidey is alone again, though, the purpose wanes.

We’re unfortunately left with a film that is totally at its best when the title character is paired up with other, more interesting characters.

This isn’t to say Holland is in any way bad. In fact, he probably gives his best performance of Peter Parker to date. He has finally narrowed in on the character’s core, and he embodies him perfectly. Likewise with Zendaya as MJ Watson; she quickly becomes the heart of the movie while maintaining her quick-witted and stark deliveries have allowed her to build a perfectly unique take on the decades-old character. And it works for both of them.

But, elsewhere, Marvel and Sony overplay their hand. In a downright ridiculous third-act moment, the return of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) feels tainted. Her death was perhaps the only true heartfelt moment of (this) Spider-Man’s mythos. Now, it feels ruined; multiple dream sequences with new scenes and lines leave her corpse dug up.

There is an attempt to make Peter more interesting by drawing on classic Spider-Man comic book material: his powers are on the fritz. This, too, feels abandoned; sort of talked away and never addressed again. Will it ultimately lead to the Man-Spider plotline? We can only hope!

After all is said and done, and the credits have rolled, and we sit around waiting for a post-credits scene, what are we met with? Potentially, another Spider-Man is on his way. Obviously, we do not yet know if this is a hint towards the return either (or both) Maguire or Garfield’s Spider-Men – or perhaps even the debut of a Miles Morales. But the point is even the final note of the movie isn’t about Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, but instead who he’ll be teaming up with next.

And – if one were to look at the bigger MCU picture – it is powerfully exciting to see the birth of the X-Men in the MCU with Jean Grey’s arrival. But did it have to be at the detriment of a Spider-Man movie?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in cinemas now.