Spider-Man: Brand New Day – Tom Holland’s Best Performance Yet, But There Might Be Too Many Pieces [REVIEW]
Ever since Tom Holland made his debut as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, his new take on the friendly neighborhood hero has had something that the others never could have: the entire Marvel universe at his doorstep. It’s one of the many things that make the Spider-Man comics such a fulcrum of the entire publishing enterprise at the House of Ideas; all the heroes know each other and pop up in their respective stories. On top of that, Holland embodied the qualities that made Peter Parker so universally beloved as a character; he was humble, thoughtful, heroic, caring, funny, and romantic just long enough to be awkward right after.
The release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks Holland’s fourth solo film as the hero (the most of any actor ever in the role) but his seventh as the character after three crossover movies. To that end, the film lives and dies by his work, and it’s safe to say that Holland gives his best performance yet as Spider-Man in Brand New Day. He manages not only to deftly carry a slew of distinct emotional beats, but also does so while making you forget that the movie is a bit more influenced by video games than comic books, with some superfluous elements to boot. At the end of the day, the movie, like its predecessor No Way Home, is held together by Holland, even if its eyes get too big for its stomach.
Rating: 4 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Holland’s best Spidey Performance | Wastes some characters |
| Unique Marvel action | |
| Zendaya & Sadie Sink are great |
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is at Its Best When Fulfilling Its Promise
Given the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, wherein people no longer remember Peter Parker’s role in certain events and the film itself seemed to be promising a more street-level Spider-Man, the opening of Brand New Day fulfills that obligation… to an extent. A stuttered montage of hammy comic book recreations, in-your-face product placement, and quick exposition fills in the years that have taken place off-screen since that fateful moment, while also giving Peter a new direction in life where his superheroics fully dominate his entire existence. To that end, though, he’s still haunted by the friends he lost in Zendaya‘s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, both of whom remain perfect.
Though there are times when the gears of the movie itself make this quite distracting to watch, it serves Spider-Man: Brand New Day well when it feels like a comic book come to life. It achieves this through a three-dimensional focus on Peter Parker’s existence, showing him in the mask, outside of the mask, and how his decisions in one affect the other. At its core, that’s what Spider-Man: Brand New Day is about: the character’s decisions from the previous story forcing drastic changes in his life both as Peter and as Spider-Man, especially as his powers become erratic. Even as ludicrous exposition flies across the screen, any plot machinations are made up for by the fact that the central performance is so compelling.
Tom Holland’s Best Performance Yet Is in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Holland’s work as an actor in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is not only his best of the MCU, but maybe his career. It’s not that any of his performances before have ever been flat, but he has clearly grown up alongside the character, making this a more mature take on Peter Parker, but not one that feels overly serious. The hallmarks of what have defined the character since the ’60s are fully on display.
Peter is smart enough to know how to solve his problems, but not so smart that he doesn’t know his limits and when he needs help. He’s emotionally put-together, until something he’s not expecting knocks him off base. As a hero, he’s clever enough to know that the villains he faces will throw anything they can at him, but even then he’s not ready for things to get surprisingly personal. That balance is the core of Spider-Man: Brand New Day more so than any one set piece, and the film is better for it.
The true mark that Holland himself has grown into the role of Spider-Man so much is that he balances the line of comedy, drama, and action so well. No piece of the puzzle feels too over the top when it comes to his work, as he not only holds the movie and its ensemble together, but manages to bob and weave through a slew of different tones. Even as Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s visual style and antagonistic moments get dizzying in their excess, Holland still makes you believe in the story it’s telling.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Proves It Doesn’t Need Its Giant Supporting Cast
The movie may be called Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but a cursory look at the cast list confirms that there are A LOT of characters in the film. In addition to the trio that has appeared in every movie, the movie’s ensemble also includes Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner (and the other guy), Tramell Tillman as Bill Metzger, Liza Colón-Zayas as Jean DeWolff, Florence Pugh as the MCU’s secret weapon Yelena Belova, even more secondary antagonists than need be listed, and Stranger Things star Sadie Sink in her MCU debut.
The film’s many moving parts make it clear that at times the larger MCU can be something of a hindrance, at least from the perspective of unnecessarily bulking up the story. As a result, Spider-Man: Brand New Day ends up underutilizing and even totally wasting some characters. Liza Colón-Zayas is an Emmy-winning performer for her work in The Bear, but spends most of her screentime on the phone. Keith David is limited to unseen narration of a spider documentary, a fine utilization of his golden voice, but one that makes you think, “That’s it?”
The next question that may pop up in your head is, “Did the film need all of this?” Connectivity across the MCU is the hallmark of this Spider-Man that makes it distinct from previous iterations, but there are so many characters and so many references that all feed on each other. There is such a thing as too much, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day very nearly loses itself to this.
As the scope expands and contracts, it becomes clear that the most interesting parts of the film are when it’s at its most intimate. Holland’s moments paired with just one scene partner, sometimes two, are Spider-Man: Brand New Day at its most satisfying. Even in the big finale, the calmer sequences shared by just a few characters are when it’s most entertaining. The bombast is fun and exhilarating at times, especially when director Destin Daniel Cretton gets creative with where the camera is placed. Still, nothing beats the dramatic scenes that Holland shares with Zendaya, or the more comedic ones with Bernthal; it’s no surprise that his best work in the film includes the scenes he shares with his real-life wife or the friend he’s known for over a decade.
The things that make Spider-Man: Brand New Day work are the things that made Spider-Man: Homecoming work a decade ago, and all the sequels since: Tom Holland and Zendaya. Their performances are magnetic and easily make you forget any silly storytelling conveniences that might have bugged you in the scene prior. Though the blockbuster spectacle can be breathtaking and sometimes a bit overdone, Holland embodies the character of Peter Parker in every possible way, and clearly raises the bar for himself in this film. In that regard, it’s exciting to consider what could be next for him, whether in the MCU or beyond.
