"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" review — It's a new day and a rocky future for the Wall-Crawler
“Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker’s heart.”
Peter Parker hasn’t been doing so hot in the four years since the cataclysmic finale of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Doctor Strange purged the world’s collective memory of both Peter and his superhero alias. He sinks every waking moment into his developing crime-fighting persona. A snappy opening montage gives the audience fleeting glimpses of encounters with various B- and C-list Spider-Man foes, including battles with Tarantula, Boomerang, Scorpion, and Tombstone, as well as the other various powerless nerdowells that New York City has on offer. The city itself has been trapped in a sea of greys and blues, the most visually murky palette for a Spider-Man movie yet. The only people Peter seems to talk to regularly are his contact in the NYPD and the armed vigilante Punisher, whom Peter largely despises. In his fleeting moments of spare time, he stalks his former pals, MJ and Ned, over social media as they live out their MIT dreams without him. The Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man has never been so low.
Arriving in the waning days of Marvel’s “Multiverse Saga,” the overarching label given to all of the post-Endgame MCU projects, but don’t expect any multiverse shenanigans in this one, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the fourth solo outing (“solo” used loosely, as another two heroes are floating around on the sidelines) for Tom Holland’s Web-Head. Sporting a new suit, making new allies, and doing battle through a relatively more restrained narrative, this iteration of Spider-Man is more down on his luck than he’s ever been before — and boy, is this exactly where the character thrives. Brand New Day, which bears only a passing resemblance to the late-aughts comic storyline which it takes its name from, is my favourite of the MCU Spider-Man adventures so far, although that’s not necessarily saying much. Destin Daniel Cretton, taking over directorial duties from Jon Watts, gives the film a great deal of visual punch, with some dynamic camera choices and excellent action sequences. Holland lands his franchise-best performance as the titular character, with the rest of the ensemble cast being rather effective, if not given too little to work with. Ultimately, the film’s biggest struggles are with its identity. A new status quo for Spider-Man? A reset for the entire franchise? A set-up for future installments? The film is never sure, which leaves it feeling over-long and over-stuffed by the end, even if there’s enough surface-level flourishes to keep it going for the most part.
In Brand New Day, Peter (played by Tom Holland) has been reduced from the inheritor of Tony Stark’s legacy to a reclusive loner who lives in an asbestos-laden apartment. He huddles over his desk between missions, building new Spidey suits and gadgets with the remaining scraps of Stark tech he still has access to (does he even have a paying job? The film makes this unclear). When he is out on patrol, he’s contending with The Punisher (played by Jon Bernthal), who would much prefer just to shoot everyone in the head to solve his problems. Fans of watching Spider-Man suffer (like me!) are in for a real treat here. Peter’s up against a few rapidly mounting problems. Not only is he broke out of his mind and struggling to maintain some semblance of human relationships after the whole “everyone forgetting he exists” fiasco, but his arachnid DNA has started rapidly mutating. It’s giving him a host of upgraded abilities, including biological webbing, while also destroying his ability to control his own body. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also up against a new supervillain, one with the ability to possess the body of anyone it wants, with its sights set on the Department of Damage Control and the secrets buried within.
The wall-crawler is given a vital kick of energy with the direction of Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and co-created the television series Wonder Man for Marvel. Watts’ direction had been the consistent weakness of the “Home” trilogy, with the few clips from those previous films serving as a visual reminder of just how much of an upgrade Cretton is, but Cretton manages to make up for all of it with some very tasty imagery. The camera runs through some exciting POV shots, uncomfortable close-ups, and dynamic editing choices. Spider-Man’s swinging ability gets the strongest visual upgrade from the camera work. The action sequences, influenced by the smash-hit success of the recent PlayStation Spider-Man games, are given a heavy emphasis on practical combat, particularly one sequence involving the ninja clan The Hand. Brett Pawlak’s cinematography is overlaid with heavy blues and greys, giving the streets of New York a visually damp colouring. Within the franchise, the visual aesthetic seems most similar to Thunderbolts (or are we calling it The New Avengers now?). The sombre colouring picks up on the down-beat and low-key tones that the film largely embodies. While the over-stuffed narrative might make the film a little too messy, and struggle to find the hope it so desperately needs, the direction certainly keeps up its end of the bargain.
Brand New Day makes for Tom Holland’s finest turn as the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man so far, with the script’s downbeat arc for the character giving Holland a lot to angst work with. Even in his seventh appearance, Holland is compelling as ever. This is Spider-Man more battered than he’s been in the series up until this point: unable to overcome personal tragedy, while still trying to maintain the lighthearted public tone of the Spider-Man identity. He’s leaping from sad-boy stalker to paranoid protector to embittered victim of a potent magical spell, keeping the script’s rather narrow and tired portrayal of grief effective with a heartfelt performance. Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, better known as The Punisher, makes his debut outside of the world of MCU Netflix series (see Daredevil season 2 and the Punisher spin-off show for more), making for a fun, antagonistic dynamic with Holland’s Spider-Man. Bernthal operates as the closest thing to a second lead the film has and makes for a strong counterbalance to Holland’s rapid-fire, quick-witted protagonist. Here’s the obligatory mention that Holland, Bernthal, and Zendaya are also riding on the other box office juggernaut at the moment: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
But the character writing is inconsistent in strength. The other two-thirds of the returning trio of Spider-Man characters, Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned, are undoubtedly handed the short straws of the film. Without their memories of Spider-Man or Peter Parker, Ned and MJ are deprived of a meaningful connection to the narrative. But at the same time, it’s Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, so the film feels reluctant to sideline them entirely. But also, the film needs to spend time with the various other returning faces and new villains (spoilers there, but the villain doesn’t really work for me), so the characters are left with insufficient time to really get back into the story. Also, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, now a physics professor, is here for a moment, as well as his green rage monster alter-ego for the second-act action scene. I would love for Marvel to figure out what they’re doing with that character, because Ruffalo is largely just spinning his wheels, repeating a tired “man or monster” beat that doesn’t connect as much as it should to the film’s thematic content.
It’s the scripting that drags the film down. Brand New Day exists at a cross-section of frustrating goals. Co-writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who have written the other three MCU Spider-Man movies, can’t quite decide where they want to take Spider-Man from here. The film wants to be a lament for the tragic fallout of No Way Home, while also trying to be a step forward for the title character, but can’t fully embrace a new reality, and, on top of it all, it needs to serve as a backdoor pilot for things to come (again, more spoilers). The film, in the end, doesn’t feel like a “new day,” or a real step forward for Spider-Man, or a reset for his world, but more like a stagnant tie-in adventure that never really amounts to anything cohesive. There’s a moment during the third act where Peter makes a comment that should be the film’s thematic statement, an incredibly on-the-nose comment, but would work well as a centrepiece to the film’s comments on the nature of Spider-Man. But by the time we get to the end, the film’s disjointed storybeats and character arcs haven’t worked to organically build to Peter’s revelation about who he is and who he wants to be. But without a script that can really sharpen the character, or a villain who meaningfully adds to Spider-Man’s story (again, spoilers, but the choice of villain is insane), Holland has to wade through an arc that doesn’t really exist.
With an opening weekend international gross of over 900-million dollars, it’s clear that no amount of nay-saying about the future of the most commercially successful film franchise of all time is going to dissuade the armies of fans who are assembling in support. Still, I can’t really get behind this Spider-Man story. It’s a creature of many disconnected parts that all have the potential to come together in an interesting and emotionally rewarding way, but the editing and scripting just can’t quite find the ideal balance between everything that is happening. In an era where the MCU feels less energized and more disconnected than ever before — even with a massive crossover in theatres this December — I shouldn’t be too surprised that the last Spider-Man effort would also embody the same feelings. Cretton’s visual stylings and Holland’s strong leading performance make for an undoubtedly entertaining theatre experience, even if it feels a little glum for the usual Spider-Man outing, while it never sticks the landing. The film never quite reaches the heights that the title promises: Brand New Day isn’t truly a fresh beginning, but more of a false start. I can’t help but wonder: is this what we really want out of a Spider-Man story?
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theatres.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment