Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review: Tom Holland Owns the Role

Let’s just go ahead and rip off the webbing. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a movie with a messy narrative built around an excellent Spider-Man. The movie understands Peter Parker so well that many of the movies problems become easy to overlook. The story gets crowded, the villain disappoints, and some characters feel included because the studio knew audiences would react when they appeared. But none of that is as important as the fact that Tom Holland finally stops borrowing the Spider-Man identity and fully claims it for himself. He’s played the character for years, but Brand New Day finally gives him the space to carry the emotional weight, the humor, the intelligence, and the physicality without being overshadowed by legacy characters.

The Good

Tom Holland Finally Owns Spider-Man

Tom Holland is Peter Parker at this point. That statement feels less like an argument after Brand New Day and more like an acknowledgment of what the man has earned. Holland’s always been charming in the role, but this movie asks him to carry Peter’s loneliness, guilt, intelligence and stubborn sense of responsibility all at once. Holland handles the material beautifully and this version of Peter feels older, more capable, and he’s no longer the kid waiting for an Avenger to tell him what to do. One of the running dynamics I enjoyed is how Peter keeps getting sonned by the older heroes. They underestimate him, lecture him, and occasionally treat him like someone who needs supervision and Peter usually takes it with more patience than they deserve then Spider-Man does something incredible and reminds everyone in the room who they are dealing with.

I also love how Brand New Day picks up on something the MCU could’ve easily ignored which is where Peter’s life is at this point. Peter’s where he’s been isolated for a very long time when we catch up with him in Brand New Day whilst fighting crime seemingly full time. While living in that isolation he’s also tortured by watching his friends live happily ever after while moving forward in life without remembering him. Brand New Day  understands how damaging that would be and it doesn’t treat Peter’s loneliness as a quick reminder of the ending of No Way Home and it instead becomes a central part of who Peter is now.

Destin Daniel Cretton Delivers Elite Spider-Man Action

The action in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is incredible. That is not only because of the visual effects but it’s a combination of EVERYTHING. The stunts, the choreography, the camera movement… Heck, even the webbing looks gorgeous (Spaghetti webbing!).  Comic-book and PlayStation fans are going to have a field day with the visuals lifted straight from gameplay and panels and there’s even a sequence with the Hulk that pure superhero eye porn and Destin Daniel Cretton deserves a lot of credit for the Marvel Eyegasm he’s inducing. Brand New Day instantly places him among the best directors to handle Spider-Man.

Comic-book fans are going to have a field day with the imagery inspired by familiar covers and panels. Even Spider-Man fighting ninjas is more satisfying than I expected and there’s a sequence involving Hulk that qualifies as pure superhero eye candy. The story doesn’t justify why those ninjas are there, but watching Spider-Man weave through them is undeniably awesome. Call me crazy, but I think I saw a little Spider-Fu in there.

Punisher Nearly Steals the Movie

I expected to enjoy Jon Bernthal’s Punisher in this movie but I did not expect him to come so close to stealing it. Frank Castle is central to the story in a way that separates him from the movie’s more obvious guest appearances. Punisher has a real role in Peter’s journey and, honestly, this sometimes feels like a Spider-Man and Punisher movie. Bernthal remains gruff, violent, and completely believable as Frank. This version is slightly tamer than the one audiences may remember from his solo series, but he has not suddenly become soft. He still swears, intimidates people,  and carries himself like a man who believes every room contains at least three potential threats. At the same time, the movie allows him to show some heart. His relationship with Peter develops into a strange brotherly dynamic that works surprisingly well. Peter’s optimism collides with Frank’s worldview, but their differences never feel artificial.

Peter Parker Gets to Be a Genius Again

One of the most satisfying parts of Brand New Day is watching Peter use his intelligence. Spider-Man movies often remember that Peter is clever but they don’t always remember that he is one of Marvel’s great scientific minds. This movie does. Peter casually discusses advanced science with Bruce Banner,  and the conversation doesn’t stop the movie so everyone can praise Peter it simply allows him to operate at Bruce’s level. Peter also develops a technology capable of having enormous implications on the larger MCU… but, of course, this is the MCU. The technology could become incredibly important, or everyone could forget about it until a movie ten years from now. Either way, it is refreshing to see Peter’s mind treated like one of his actual superpowers.

The performances may be among the strongest we have seen from this cast. Part of that comes from the cleaner playing field as the actors are no longer competing with multiple generations of Spider-Man history for attention. Zendaya has grown tremendously over the years. She brings more control and emotional depth to MJ, even when the story keeps some distance between her and Peter. Jacob Batalon remains a natural source of warmth, while Mark Ruffalo wears Bruce Banner like a comfortable glove. Ruffalo understands exactly how to play Banner’s intelligence, awkwardness, and exhaustion without pushing any of it too far.

This cast has spent years growing into these roles. Brand New Day finally gives them the opportunity to show what that experience has produced.

The Bad

The villain does not work well. Hell, the villain is the movie’s weakest major element. This isn’t a criticism of the performer but rather the problem is how the character is written and used. The villain feels included for name recognition more than necessity. There is an assumption that audiences will react to the character simply because they recognize the name but recognition is not characterization. The motivation feels derivative of ideas that have appeared in too many superhero movies with the film wanting the villain to feel complicated, but the character never becoming satisfyingly evil. I, personally, enjoy villains who are unapologetically terrible. I also enjoy villains who believe they are the hero of their own story.  Normally, a weak villain would severely damage a superhero movie but this may be the rare case where nearly everything else outshines the antagonist.

Speaking of villains being a problem, The Hand Makes Almost No Sense. In fact, they’re another example of the movie choosing spectacle before logic. To be clear, Spider-Man fighting ninjas is awesome. It is also difficult to explain why any of it is happening. Why are they here? Was the entire subplot created because someone wanted Spider-Man to fight ninjas? Based on the final product, that last explanation may be the most convincing one.

Final Thoughts

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is messy as hell. The villain is underwritten. The Hand barely makes sense. Hulk feels like a spectacular solution to a problem the movie did not need to create. The story contains several ideas that deserve more explanation than they receive. Yet the Spider-Man of it all works. Tom Holland delivers his most complete performance as Peter Parker. Destin Daniel Cretton directs the action with confidence, imagination, and a genuine understanding of how Spider-Man should move. Jon Bernthal brings enough energy and personality to turn the film into an unofficial Spider-Man and Punisher team-up.

Brand New Day is not the cleanest Spider-Man movie ever made. It succeeds because its strongest elements understand Spider-Man so thoroughly that they carry the weaker ones with them.  And in the end we are treated to the greatest live-action version of Spider-Man ever.