Let’s begin with a warning: If you’re planning to sit through all 2 hours and 25 minutes of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is preceded by a near-half-hour of ads and trailers, you should consider leaving as soon as the final credits begin to play.
Don’t be tempted to stay for what has become an obligatory post-credits sequence tacked on to the end of every superhero film, because this one does nothing more than, in an admittedly cute manner, announce that – as if we didn’t already suspect – Spider-Man will be back.
And really, that isn’t much of a spoiler alert! I mean, the movie has made more money than would be needed to empower the economy of any number of island nations, so of course Marvel Studios isn’t going to squelch one of its proven cash-cow franchises. Beginning with Sam Raimi’s 2002 effort Spider-Man starring Toby Maguire, and culminating with Spider-Man: Brand New Day starring Tom Holland, Marvel has made a reported $11 billion worldwide from Lee’s creation
Brand New Day alone has been breaking records by garnering – as of this writing – more than $1.6 billion worldwide, some $655 million of that domestically, since premiering on July 27th. Which naturally raises the pertinent question: Does that mean the movie is any good?
Well, depends on your perspective, right? Some people couldn’t be dragged to see a superhero movie, especially one in which the protagonist was, as a teen, bitten by a radioactive-charged spider that gave him super strength, reflexes, speed and a heightened “spidey” sense of impending danger.
Heroes like that are the province of youth, right? Here, though, is what’s unique about Spider-Man: Brand New Day: It appeals to anyone who can appreciate the skill it takes to make a contemporary action film, a storyline that engages the heart and a principal actor who is talented enough to reflect all the emotions that the main character is required to feel.
Directed by Destin Daniel, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is part of an ongoing franchise that is both part of the larger “Avengers” universe and a series all its own. The character was dreamed up by the writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko and first appeared in a 1962 Marvel Comics comic book.
Holland assumed the role in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, then followed in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and now Brand New Day.
No Way Home sets the scene for Brand New Day, in that our hero, Peter Parker/Spider-Man – for reasons we don’t need to go into – had Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell to protect both his girlfriend MJ (played by Zendaya) and his BFF Ned (played by Jacob Batalon).
The downside to the spell: Neither MJ nor Ned have any memories of Peter Parker. And while they go through their lives, attending college and doing all the cool things that college kids do, Peter spends the years fighting crime. He does so in conjunction with the police detective Jean DeWolff (played by Liza Colón-Zayas) and becomes popular even as he mourns all that he has lost.
Brand New Day, then, has two main plotlines: One is Spider-Man’s battle with a shape-shifting entity that for some reason has targeted the Department of Damage Control. The other is his need to fulfill the promise he made to remind both MJ and Ned of who he is and why they don’t remember him.
Director Cretton handles all this with flair, utilizing the talents of his cast, which includes Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink and, briefly, Florence Pugh and Marisa Tomei. The CGI is state-of-the-art, so much so that at times when Spidey is swinging through the city, the effect can even feel a bit like vertigo.
But he keeps the focus on Spidey himself, which is good because Holland – besides being acrobatic enough to pull off the requisite stunts – knows how to play heartbroken with just the right amount of post-adolescent longing.
Oh, and did I mention that he’ll be back? That’s what the post-credits note claims, anyway. See, I said you don’t need to stick around.
“Movies 101” host Dan Webster is the senior film critic for Spokane Public Radio.