Spider-Man: Brand New Day

As if a reconstructed reality that left him alone and friendless in his last movie weren’t enough, everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood superhero has to contend not only with colourful new villains (and a couple of colourful old allies) but also with body-wide mutagenic changes that are turning him into a brand new kind of Spider-Man.

Fans of a certain vintage will particularly appreciate this vision of Peter Parker as a lone vigilante, stripped of an Avenger-sized support network, relying on his own ingenuity and resourcefulness. It’s perhaps most redolent of a phase in the mid-1980s when he was living in a cheap penthouse apartment and swapping banter with NYPD liaison Captain Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas).

To create a sense of Spidey’s self-exile, we even get a glimpse inside his mask, almost smelling the Spider-sweat and Spider-breath as he steels himself for the next action sequence. The acrobatic camerawork expands on the fine tradition established by Sam Raimi a quarter-century ago, trying to keep up with our hero as he navigates the concrete canyons of his native New York.

Likewise, the icky nature of his new powers recalls the hint of body horror Raimi inflected into Tobey Maguire’s arachnoid rebirth. For his successor Tom Holland, these strange enhancements feel like some kind of super-powered ‘yuppie flu’. Their liberation comes at a cost, and you get the feeling that the actor wanted to add a few minor chords to his usually upbeat and melodious performance.

None of which stops uber-producer Kevin Feige from lending out some of his Avengers-adjacent toys for the writers to play with (an imperturbable Black Widow here, a monstrous Hulk there), but they’re mostly used in service of the story at hand, as opposed to further complicating the limitless web of MCU world-building (having said that, seeds are clearly being laid for Marvel’s next big saga).

Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, on shore leave from Marvel’s army of TV shows, shows a softer side but still provides an amusing contrast as Spidey’s foul-mouthed frenemy. Meanwhile, Michael Mando’s capacity for quiet menace is wasted beneath the hi-tech armour of the Scorpion. So it’s just as well that Sadie Sink brings some traumatised intensity to the primary villain (whose identity I shan’t spoil).

The amusing yet heartfelt soap opera between the young leads is much more engaging than the fight scenes and explosions, although director Destin Daniel Cretton’s background in low-key indie drama ensures that even those carry some emotional charge, especially when they relate to the protagonist’s struggles with his identity and purpose.

Between the central plot mystery, the stream of cute cameos, and Peter’s attempts to reconnect with his old amnesiac friends (sarky-sensitive Zendaya and adorable puppy dog Jacob Batalon), there’s a lot of butter spread over the film’s carbohydrated two and a half hours. Depending on your tolerance for lore-laden superheroics, maybe a little too much.

Like most MCU movies, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the latest edition of a flagship comic-book title, or in this case maybe a four-issue run on Marvel Team-Up. As such it’s best appreciated as an opportunity to check in on your favourite characters, rather than as a discrete piece of cinema in its own right. But even for non-geeks, there’s still plenty of popcorn entertainment to chew on.

-Stew Mott-