Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes the characters and story that have been well-established from the first three films to the next level, with the world forgetting the identity of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker but fully embracing his alter ego.

Brand New Day has too many plot threads and several new characters that only do a modicum of what the plot requires, but they make the most of it, and the movie succeeds just enough.

As mentioned, Peter Parker is living in a world where nobody knows him, thanks to Doctor Strange’s mystical spell. That includes his love interest MJ (Zendaya) and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Parker tries reacquainting himself with them all over again, and that even includes writing a letter detailing who he is and what happened. Parker agonizes over when and if he should let them know.

In the meantime, his alter ego works with the police to stop new villains, but now there’s a mysterious force that is telepathically possessing people, and Parker is trying to figure out who or what it is. I won’t reveal who it is, but there’s something or someone mutating just below the surface.

Parker tries to go for help from two different characters: Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher, who has a shaky alliance with the web slinger and is very much toned down for a PG-13 movie. Then there’s Mark Ruffalo’s Dr. Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk. Parker thinks Banner can offer a scientific explanation about an inhibitor chip that helps Parker limit his powers in the right way.

It’s a plot thread such as this chip that adds to the confusion of an already busy plot. Parker has to contend with the unnamed telepath while dealing with the repercussions of telling MJ and Ned who he is, while needing help from The Hulk and The Punisher. Brand New Day doesn’t quite know when to say no when it comes to plot overload.

Holland still does a fine job at capturing the inner turmoil of trying to get his friends to remember him, and the action scenes are convincing in the sense that they feature interactions with Peter Parker rather than relying on an overabundance of unnecessary CGI.

Despite being overstuffed, Brand New Day does construct a story that makes just enough sense to keep it afloat, and the rest features some spectacular action scenes, dashes of sly, effective humor, and a healthy amount of emotional heft such as the aforementioned letter that Parker wants to reveal.

Brand New Day doesn’t achieve the near-perfection of No Way Home. It needs a better balance with its plot structure for sure, but what we get is still highly entertaining until Spidey makes his return in Avengers: Doomsday in December or his own next cinematic outing.

Grade: B+

(Rated PG-13 for sequences of action/violence and some language.)

Reviewer’s Note: I saw this movie at Pooler Cinemas.