Tom Holland did something no Spider-Man before him managed to do
"Spider-Man: A New Day" proves why Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man in the history of the genre. While it is not a cinematic epic like "The Odyssey", it is still an enjoyable film that leaves a taste for the next chapter.
Did you miss the actors of "The Odyssey"? Did you miss Spider-Man? Great, because "Spider-Man: A New Day", which hit theaters this weekend, covers both bases. The first film in five years starring one of the most beloved superheroes ever unites three of the actors from Christopher Nolan's historical hit - Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal. If you want, you can skip from one hall to another and watch all three of them twice.
Holland breaks a record here: he is the one who has played Spider-Man for the most years, and the first to do so in four solo films. The last of them, "Spider-Man: No Way Home", released in 2021, was a huge hit and was also crowned by us as one of the best films of that year - but one must remember that it was one of the first major cinematic events after the pandemic, and it was difficult to judge it objectively.
Spider-Man is, as we remember, the alter-ego of Peter Parker, a young man who failed to hold both hats: both to save the world and to lead a normal life. The previous film ended tragically, with a twist in the style of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", where Dr. Strange casts a spell that causes the world to forget about Parker's existence. This also applies to his best friend Ned and his beloved MJ, played by Zendaya, who just married Holland in reality.
Parker does not forget them and continues to think about them. The two finish their studies at MIT, leave the gray Boston, and return to his hometown of New York, which allows "Spider-Man: A New Day" to place the plot in the bustling urban space. It is a big city, and yet the fates of the three old friends intersect.
In his hat as Spider-Man, who refuses to take off the mask in a way that also has a philosophical statement, Spider-Man meets several characters from the expanded Marvel universe. Notable among them are Black Widow, played by Florence Pugh with a heavy Russian accent, responsible for an erotic scene uncharacteristic of this film, which is mostly sexually modest; The Punisher, played by Bernthal, who here plays the rugged vigilante, who turns out to be a help to Spidey; and the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, who manages to contain himself in the body of the respectable academic Bruce Banner, but in the end does not control his urge and breaks out and explodes.
Above all stands another character, who turns out to be the most significant plot engine, played by Sadie Sink. Many of you have probably already heard what it is about, but the trailers and other promotional materials did not provide details, so we will also behave nicely. We will only add that this is the most interesting character, who drives the plot, threatens Spider-Man, challenges him, and also learns from him, and in the end, it can also be said that she steals the show from him.
The film spans about two and a half hours, which pass quickly. It packs into it events, themes, and styles that could have been enough for a whole season of at least one series on Disney+. There is everything here, so nothing is missing: from martial arts scenes in the style of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", to psychological tension that enters the hero's consciousness like in "The Backrooms". Most of the time it works, even if the result is a bit dense and sometimes limps.
Jon Watts, who did an excellent job in the previous films, was replaced in the director's chair by Destin Daniel Cretton. Like many of the Marvel directors, he also started in the indie world - in the acclaimed drama "Short Term 12". Since then, he has commercialized, but continues to excel. His work here is excellent: it is not easy to maneuver between a scene of a multi-participant ninja battle and a sentimental and charged conversation involving only Holland and Zendaya, but he succeeds in doing so.
Everyone has their favorite falafel and their favorite Spider-Man, but objectively it can be said that Holland was born for the role, and here is his best performance as this character. Between him and Zendaya, his partner in life, there is obviously extraordinary chemistry, and the connection between them adds a few more charges and layers to the film, which is already multi-layered. Bernthal, like in "The Odyssey", proves again that there is no such thing as small roles. Ruffalo gives the Hulk here his most fascinating and exciting representation so far in Marvel films. The list is still long, so let's skip straight to the one who stars at the top of it: Sadie Sink rises above everyone here. The red-headed actress, who broke out in "Stranger Things", takes another significant step on the way to becoming a first-rate star.
Sink also appeared in the exemplary and depressing film "The Whale", and Zendaya starred not only alongside Holland in "The Odyssey", but also without him in "The Drama", one of the dark commercial films of recent times, and in "Challengers", whose script was written by Justin Kuritzkes.
According to reports, she and Holland were not satisfied with the original script of "Spider-Man: A New Day" and demanded to take it in more mature and deep directions. The producers complied with their request and brought in Kuritzkes to rewrite it in the spirit of the pretentious stars. The result swims in deep water and allows Parker/Spider-Man and the rest of the characters to flirt with their dark side, and even embrace it. The film raises a host of weighty questions about the self and the other, the revealed and the hidden, good and evil, and deals with one not particularly pleasant question - are humans monsters? For a moment, it even seems that it is about to answer this in the affirmative.
When you bring a painter, you always hope that no one will notice what the wall looked like before, but in "Spider-Man: A New Day" you see them. You see the paint, you see the plaster, and everything feels glued. Holland and Zendaya wanted to turn their new hit into something that even Christopher Nolan fans would not be ashamed to see, and it looks forced. What to do: what fits in an adaptation of Homer is less natural in such a hit. The attempt to weigh down and mature is less successful. Apparently, Zendaya and Tom Holland will receive the invitation to the Oscars because of another film.
But all this does not detract from the enjoyment of "Spider-Man: A New Day", which is overall very fun and successful - and I want to watch it again. It probably also will not stop it from breaking box office records like its predecessors, since Spider-Man has always been one of Marvel's safe bets. We probably will not get "The Odyssey 2", but more films with Spider-Man? You bet.
