‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Review: A lived-in New York disrupted by an out-of-place villain
Spider-Man: Brand New Day gets almost everything right, and fortunately, its most vital aspects fall into that winning category. The most important of its achievements is how well it understands both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. The action and web-swinging across New York mark the first time Tom Holland’s rendition of the character feels like a true comic book version. Meanwhile, as Peter Parker, he gets beaten to a pulp throughout the film, equal parts physically, mentally, and emotionally. Even with all the moving parts the movie ties together, it never stops feeling like a quintessential Spider-Man story, which is a testament considering where the plot goes regarding its main villain.
The past MCU Spider-Man movies have not put forward what most would consider a true version of the character. That doesn’t mean they were bad–they were great, in my opinion–but they never portrayed him accurately from the standpoint of street-level crime-fighting in New York City. He has either been in the suburbs, traveling abroad, or too busy dealing with the multiverse. Brand New Day changes that. New York City is alive and breathing here, and the film fully inhabits its environment. The web-swinging and traversal across it is fluid and dynamic, whereas before it often felt a bit static.
Moreover, the practical filmmaking is on full display across every street and building; not once did I feel like I was looking at something fake. The action and combat are also fresh and distinct. The one-on-one battles, such as those against Scorpion and Hulk, have a tangible weight to them with every hit Spider-Man takes. Where the film truly shines, however, is in the group fights. The stunt choreography is impeccable across the board, and it comes together beautifully. The very first action montage in the movie demonstrates all of this from the get-go, and it was at that moment I knew the technical side of the film was in good hands.
The story of Brand New Day was what fascinated me most going into it, particularly how it would handle each character following the events of No Way Home. From this viewpoint, I was immensely satisfied, especially with the execution of Peter’s arc and how naturally MJ and Ned fit into it with more than enough justification. I believe well-rounded, character-driven stories like this one are exactly what is sorely needed in comic book films right now; it can’t just be about slamming action figures together.
The movie lands another triumph in this category by showcasing the emotional pit Peter has to struggle through and how it affects his relationships with everyone around him. This struggle is brilliantly juxtaposed against his time swinging through the city as Spider-Man, with one major highlight being his association with the Punisher. Their dynamic brought some of my favorite scenes in the film from their initial arguments all the way through to their evolution by the end of the movie.
The only soft spot in all of this is the plot thread surrounding Peter’s mutating DNA. It’s a storyline that starts strong and carries narrative consequence throughout the film, but by the end, it feels like it was left dangling without a real conclusion. Nevertheless, the movie lands everything else it was trying to say with great effect.
With all of the above praises sung, I have one major gripe with Brand New Day, and that is with its villain: Jean Grey. I do not care about the X-Men at all, and what this choice felt like was just a heavy-handed setup for the eventual X-Men reboot. Throwing her into a Spider-Man movie simply does not click and did not feel right–I don’t really need telekinesis in a street-level story. I don’t understand why we couldn’t have just gotten a proper villain from Spider-Man’s actual rogues’ gallery.
However, I want to judge the movie for what it is and not for what it isn’t. Jean Grey’s powers were handled well in relation to Spider-Man’s, and she mirrored similar themes in her arc as to what Peter was going through in his, making for a strong connective link between the characters which added real weight to the story. How her abilities affected Peter were well-executed and resulted in some of the best scenes in the film.
Despite this, I still cannot shake the feeling that the two are fundamentally incompatible in the same movie. Jean Grey’s presence causes the narrative to lean toward a supernatural tone rather than what was originally marketed to be a more grounded film. Brand New Day contradicts itself in this regard; the decision to include Jean Grey over someone like Mr. Negative reads as an attempt to leverage Spider-Man’s popularity to jumpstart the X-Men franchise. Using him to open the general audience’s eyes to a different property feels like a cheat, and a blatant one at that.
I still loved Brand New Day, and the choice of villain ultimately does not ruin the movie’s messaging or story. Everything I was genuinely craving was met: the action, lived-in New York atmosphere, and key character dynamics were all more than satisfactory. I loved it all, especially the ending note. I just would have loved it even more if it had stayed 100% true to the Spider-Man brand, rather than being 90% faithful.