‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ is the same old story
In “Spider Man: Brand New Day,” Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is back in Queens, but nobody remembers him. If you saw the prior installment in this interminable franchise, you’d know that Peter asked Doctor Strange to make the entire world forget he existed. This includes his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya) and his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), who moved on with their lives and graduated from MIT.
However, Peter’s alter ego, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, is still a known and beloved fixture in the community. His high-flying antics have decreased crime in New York City to enviable lows. He keeps in touch via phone with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), who worries about his health and well-being the way his late Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) once did. At least our web-slinging hero isn’t completely alone in the world.
And yet, Peter is sad because he misses MJ. After four years of basically stalking her via Ned’s online videos, he decides to give her a letter explaining what happened. Perhaps it will jog her memory, and she’ll remember she once loved him. Director Destin Daniel Cretton (“Short Term 12”) plays Peter’s romantic notion straight, but it’s the least believable thing in a movie that includes a guy with a gigantic scorpion tail, the mythical ninja crew known as The Hand, and a body-jumping entity hellbent on destruction.
To give credit where it’s due, “SM: BND” leans into its emotions the way James Gunn’s more successful “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies did. Cretton cast actors who try their hardest to elevate the familiar material, including a very game Florence Pugh reprising her role as a familiar Russianin the MCU. Tramell Tillman (Mr. Milchick on “Severance”) brings his usual stately presence to his role as Bill Metzger, head of a mysterious organization targeted by the film’s villains. And Tomei brings some gravitas to a few flashbacks.
Spidey has always been more human and likable than most superheroes; he’s a wisecracking young man for whom great power begets great responsibility. Holland continues that loose, jokey, youthful tradition even if Peter looks a bit older than, I guess, 23 years old? “I didn’t know Peter Parker was 40,” I wrote in my notes. Perhaps crime-fighting gives you a few extra wrinkles while your body still looks buff and muscular as hell.
Speaking of buff and muscular as hell, Jon Bernthal shows up early as Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher. He’s been lifted from the Netflix and Disney+ MCU shows, as well as his recent special “The Punisher: One Last Kill,” and dropped in here with no explanation of who he is or why he’s racing Spidey to catch criminals. As usual, these movies exist solely to advance the next MCU movie. Marvel spits these details out to eager fans like mother birds feeding their young, and those who aren’t in the know end up starving. Frank and Peter bicker like an old married couple, which is what passes for male bonding in these movies.
The Punisher’s help is needed because New York City is being threatened by an unseen force that can jump into unsuspecting people’s bodies and force them to do their bidding. The film’s initial set piece involves a tank barreling through the streets while Frank chases it in his vehicle and Spidey swings on his web. This is the first attempt on Metzger’s organization, which is hiding something that telepath desperately wants. After much carnage, we discover a little old lady at the wheel.
The one person this entity can’t control is Peter, though it tries more than once. But Peter has his own problems. He’s changing into, I don’t know, something more powerful, angry, and violent. His eyes go black and he temporarily loses his normal regard for human life. I have no idea what this is about, but the movie assumes you do, so it goes unexplained. Unlike scenes in earlier films where Parker is wonderstruck while discovering his talents via a thinly veiled nod to puberty, these transformation scenes just seem random and uninvolving.
Mark Ruffalo reprises his role as Dr. Bruce Banner, who now wears an armband to help control his anger-fueled mutation. It’s no spoiler to tell you that the Hulk makes an appearance. Why have Banner in here if he’s not going to give the public what they want?
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Giving the fans what they want has always been the Marvel movies’ modus operandi and their fatal flaw. Far too much time is spent in “SM: BND” on introducing characters or fan service situations that will be continued in future installments. The human drama between MJ, Ned, and Peter gets lost, which is a shame because the actors inject humor and pathos into their roles. MJ is the rare role that suits Zendaya, and Batalon brings charm to his nerdy Spider-Man obsession. Holland uses his voice to highlight Peter’s insecurities and his loneliness.
As usual, the studio asks us critics not to spoil anything for the fans, an absurd idea that I find especially irritating. Because based on my audience’s reactions, the fans knew more than I did already. As soon as the first person was telepathically controlled, their response told me they knew who was doing it.
Even more aggravating is that Sadie Sink’s performance undeservedly must get short shrift in this review. Since she may be a spoiler, I can’t talk about her performance as the rare female Marvel character who is given as much attention as the boys.
I tend to enjoy these Spider-Man movies more than the other MCU films. I liked “Homecoming” and think Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” is, alongside “Superman II” and “Black Panther,” the best superhero movie made so far. But nothing in this movie matches Raimi’s web-slinging sequences for sheer enjoyment, nor does anything since approach the emotions of Tobey Maguire’s subway reveal in that movie.
However, Raimi is invoked because, like the much-maligned “Spider-Man 3,” “SM: BND” suffers from being overstuffed to the point where it loses too much of its effectiveness.
By the way, there is a post-credits scene, but it’s so unsatisfying that I’d say you can skip it.
★★½
SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers. Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, Sadie Sink, Tramell Tillman, Jacob Batalon, Liza Colón-Zayas, Marisa Tomei, Mark Ruffalo. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 145 minutes. PG-13 (does whatever a spider can)
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