★★★ (3 out of 4)
If “The Odyssey” has to settle for second place at the box office after two weeks of world dominance, how fitting that it’s the princeling Telemachus (Tom Holland) and the goddess Athena (Zendaya) easing the fall. Holland didn’t get the best reviews of his life playing the son of Matt Damon’s King Odysseus. But he’s in his wheelhouse and flying high in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” his fourth solo gig as the web-slinger in Spidey spandex and in the skin of as Peter Parker, the hormonal kid from Queens whose bite from a spider gave him swinging powers to bring criminals to justice on the mean streets of New York City.
The suits at Marvel and Sony would prefer that you’re familiar with the byzantine turns in Spidey’s journey from comic book to wowzah film franchise. But just in case you’ve just dropped in from decades of space exploration and this is your first close encounter with the pop culture phenom that is Spider-Man, I’m here for you.
It’s been five years since “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which ended when Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell that made the world forget Spider-Man the Avenger ever existed. OMG, indeed. This means that Spidey/Peter has to face a time when his true love, MJ (Zendaya), not only doesn’t know him from Adam but has moved onto another dude, the unwebbed kind. And he has to watch. And off-screen, Holland and Zendaya actually did get married. OMG x infinity.
MJ and Peter’s BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon) have also moved on to higher education as MIT grads, thank you very much. Even as Peter shoots longing glances at MJ—she doesn’t exactly not notice—the new mature but heartsick Spidey focuses on his new job. Along with Detective DeWolff (“The Bear” Emmy winner Liza Colón-Zayas), he cleans up the scum of the five boroughs as well as known villains like Scorpion (Michael Mando).
‘Brand New Day’ is a nice picture that delivers what’s expected. Nicely. But not much more.
Same old/same old? Pretty much. There are deadly assassins known as The Hand to dispatch. But director Destin Daniel Cretton, who supersized with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” holds a fond place in memory for the indie “Short Term 12,” churning things up with a secret sauce. Thanks to screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, working from characters created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, there’s a bigger plot afoot with an evil shapeshifter and mind snatcher who is not to be revealed by lowly reviewers, though your socials will spoil away in like the next five minutes.
I can say that other characters include such conflicted personalities as Frank Castle the Punisher (Jon Bernthal, hilarious) and Professor Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk), so say a big hello again to Mark Ruffalo who keeps finding fresh ways to get us into the anger issues of the big green machine. Florence Pugh steps in for a mo as Yelena/Black Widow. And Sadie Sink—love her!—has her very ID under gag order. Won’t you be surprised? You will. Maybe.
But the emotional weight of “Brand New Day” is the great responsibility carried by Holland and Zendaya, and they come through with subtle shadings that are much appreciated in an epic that keeps us rooting for the Peter/MJ love story. It turns out that he’s left her a note that will explain everything when the time comes. I can’t say when. But I can say that Spidey’s AI assistant (everybody has one) tells him his arachnid hormones are playing tricks on his body and his rage issues. That really is something to see.
There is also a teary touch about how New Yorkers and even the NYPD come to appreciate the new grown-up Spider-Man. Look, “Brand New Day” is a nice picture that delivers what’s expected. Nicely. But not much more. Yes, the film avoids clichéd car chases through midtown Manhattan. Tanks do the chasing this time.
Blame it on traditional Spider-Man cinema being outclassed by the first two animated versions (there’ll be a third next year) extending the character into a multitude of web-slingers that essentially say we can all be Spider-Man. That includes Miles Morales (voiced by the terrific Shameik Moore) and Brooklyn's half-Black, half-Puerto Rican Spider-Man, who travels to realms beyond the imagination to do the impossible. Miles and these other spider heroes are learning what it means to cut it as individuals and as a team. And the animation is nothing short of revolutionary.
How can you top that? “Brand New Day” shows you that you can’t. To stick with traditional Peter Parker and his heroic alter-ego is to be stuck in a creative rut. “Brand New Day” plays it safer than ever, but its joyous spirit is not to be dinged. Holland really does come up aces, tempering this mechanical action pinwheeling with a sense that growing up for Peter means coping with loss (poor Aunt May), commitment issues with MJ and glandular changes that take eye-popping forms. Just you wait. Or don’t. “Avengers Doomsday” is just around the corner. No Spidey ending, happy or otherwise, is in sight. One thing “Brand New Day” makes perfectly clear is that, except for the money changers, we all need a time out.