‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Review: Tom Holland’s Peter Parker Evolves In Latest Outing

The wait is finally over. Nearly five years since Spider-Man: No Way Home released, we at long last have the much anticipated follow-up film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day; Read our full review below.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day had a lot to live up to. The previous entry saw Tom Holland’s Spider-Man dealing with all sorts of multiversal shenanigans, including the return of his own Peter Parker variants played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The question on everyone’s minds after was probably something like, “how will they top this?” Luckily for us, director Destin Daniel Cretton didn’t up the stakes, instead he ran full throttle in the opposite direction, offering us the most personal story the character has had in years.

The main conflict of the story revolves around Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as he faces a new unseen threat hellbent on attacking government facilities, meanwhile the mutation that gave him his abilities continues to evolve as Peter Parker begins losing his sense of self in favor of Spider-Man. Another wrench is thrown into the mix when his former girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and former best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) return to New York City unaware of Peter’s identity after the events of No Way Home.

This central dynamic between Peter wishing to reconnect with those he lost and his instinct to push them away to keep them safe is the beating heart of the film. When it was announced that Zendaya and Jacob Batalon would be returning to their roles as supporting cast, I was admittedly very hesitant. However, I am more than happy to be proven wrong here. The stakes felt very personal and quintessentially Spider-Man.

Speaking of Spider-Man, this is easily Tom Holland’s best performance, period. His portrayal of Peter has never been more convincing and he really gets to flex as a more tortured version of the character. Jon Bernthal makes his silver screen debut here as The Punisher after being confined to television for over a decade, and he is one the highlights of the film for sure. Bernthal and Holland have a storied history together and that little-brother-big-brother dynamic gets played up very well on screen and offers some of the film’s best moments. I could watch a whole trilogy of Spider-Man and Punisher teaming up. Zendaya also does her best work in the franchise this go around and offers some of the most emotional scenes in any Spider-Man film.

It’s hard to ignore the little elephant in the room here, Sadie Sink. Her performance of the character she plays is very strong and she has to carry a large section of the film on her back, and does it with ease. That’s all I’ll say here for now to keep things as spoiler free as possible. Now for another elephant in the room, this time large and green, Mark Ruffalo returns as The Hulk once more and he isn’t in this much, however I believe it’s the perfect amount. One of the strengths of this film is it’s ability to make the MCU feel connected again, like yes Hulk is in it but he serves a pretty good function in the story and doesn’t overstay his welcome.

On the technical side of things this is easily the best looking MCU Spider-Man film we have gotten thus far. The color palette is richer and New York doesn’t look like empty green screen plates. The VFX is much more consistent this go around as well with just a couple questionable looking shots here and there. Michael Giacchino’s score is also very understated here, but the main theme being a reinterpretation of the characters’ classic motif with notes missing to represent what Peter has lost from his life feels like a stroke of genius. The stunt department also killed it this time around by bringing very fresh and dynamic fights to screen. Spidey has never moved this cool.

Overall Spider-Man: Brand New Day genuinely is a step up from the previous trilogy for the character and the best entry since 2004’s Spider-Man 2. The themes the movie takes on are much more mature and the story takes its time to breathe a little more than most Marvel movies tend to do. It really does feel like Destin Daniel Cretton, Tom Holland, and the writing team took the time to put more care and properly evolve the story for the people that grew up with these films.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, and many more. The film was written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Now playing in theaters everywhere.

Thanks for reading this review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. If you liked this article make sure to check out more reviews here at Feature First.