Spider-Man: Brand New Day review – Tom Holland’s lonely-hearted hero soars ever higher

Tom Holland swings to new heights in his fourth Spider-Man film which successfully dodges the superhero movie slide into irrelevance with verve, intelligence and above all, heart. In fact, Brand New Day had stinker written all over it. With a new director, Destin Daniel Cretton, taking over from Jon Watts, and coming into a Marvel Cinematic Universe entangled in its own multiverses, the film looked likely to fall into one of the DC traps: either going laughably dark like Zack Snyder/Matt Reeves or cynically trite like James Gunn’s Superman/Supergirl mirthless debacles. In fact, this is a pleasing reset not just for Spidey but also for the next set of Avengers films and — without giving away any spoilers — the new X-Men films.At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the multiverse mayhem had led to Doctor Strange casting a spell to extinguish Peter Parker from the collective memory; to restore his anonymity and protect MJ (Zendaya) and best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon). Now we find him concentrating purely on Spider-Man duties, crime-fighting 24/7, protecting the city but existing entirely alone; the closest thing to a pal is The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), who is even more of a PTSD aggro loner than he is. Spider-Man and The Punisher (Jon Bernthal)Jay Maidment via EMPIREYet Spidey is also going through changes, his powers are changing, his awareness heightened, actual real web-slinging capabilities growing out of his wrists (“That’s disgusting,” he says, dry-heaving), and other hormonal troubles to the point where he starts to develop his own superpower suppressor to manage it all. Not great timing: a secret defence building is under threat from a mysterious new villain which is spookily capable of hopping from one person to another across the city, temporarily “possessing” them. In one bravura scene from Zendaya, this includes MJ, which forces Spidey to step back into the lives of his old friends. Holland’s Spider-Man is a far more conflicted character here, not so much darker as lonelier, wrestling with his own body like Cronenberg’s The Fly, only without Geena Davis to talk to; the sense here is of Dostoevskian isolation, a retreat from humanity, and a deep melancholy over missing out on college, friendship and being close to the love of his life. Tom Holland as Spider ManJay MaidmentThe most masterful trick here by continuing Spidey writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers and the ever-excellent Holland is in bringing Spidey out of his funk in a convincing way, with a surprisingly emotional series of pay-offs. Comic book life lessons have rarely been as affecting as this. And just the kicks are great: ramped-up vertiginous web-slinging, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk making a brutally unhinged return, the nods to The Matrix in the ninja action (and storyline; big self-aware Neo vibes here) and a gripping performance by Sadie Sink as the “villain” which confirms her as the true Stranger Things breakout superstar. Yes, this is your new Moody Neighbourhood Spider-Man but a reminder than multiverse madness is no match for straight-up character development.Director: Destin Daniel Cretton. Length: 145 mins