Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, Florence Pugh, Liza Colón-Zayes, Tramell Tillman, Marisa Tomei, Naomi Watts, Michael Mando, Oliva Booth-Ford, Marvin Jones III.

There is a reason why Spiderman remains one of Stan Lee and Stephen Ditko’s most endearing creations, why the character in any form is consistently one of the most loved; far beyond the quick wit and smart mouth, more than just the knowledge that the pair who conceived him placed him at the heart of Marvel’s growing empire, it was because he was one of the first to have the troubles of the world heaped upon his shoulders as mothing more than a boy, he was someone that the readers could associate with because he carried traumatic pain from the get go, and he became someone that all readers would want to be.

Whilst we love to see our heroes win constantly, to cheer them on, to see them forge love interests and overcome adversity with a wide smile and a heroic message delivered to the faithful, Spiderman, as the fourth instalment of the character’s arc under the dependable Tom Holland’s watch shows in Brand New Day, is one to whom the integrity of honour is more than suave sophistication and charm, it is the truth of darkness and carrying pain with dignity, of proving perhaps more than any other graphic novel hero, that sometimes being the protagonist in life is knowing when to carry the burden alone in the shadows.

Brand New Day will no doubt annoy many, the claim of being too dark will carry certain weight with some, but a truth of Spiderman is that is at times bleak, the point of Peter Parker is that he is one of us, he has no shield to hide behind, no armour (at least in his conception), he has no money, always broke, always shafted by J. Jonah Jameson for control of his photographs, never truly getting the girl of his dreams, and treated like a kid despite aging at a more natural pace than say the timeless Superman, Batman, or any number of heroes from Marvel/D.C./ or independent publisher.

The film feels its way through this change, underlining perhaps the message of its title, no longer trapped by youth, the cynical eyes in which Tom Holland expresses his way through life in the background, paying subservience to his alter ego is a fascinating viewpoint, and it is with crushing pathos that we see his life as one dominated by regret.

With excellent performances from the likes of Sadie Sink, Mark Ruffalo, the ever-inspiring Florence Pugh, and the atmospheric cool of Zendaya, what comes across is a film of heart, not lightness, not charisma, but truth in the human heart, of the damage we hold tighter in the shadows than we ever do when we smile.

Spiderman: Brand New Day is the superhero film we need, one that embraces the pain of life and doesn’t attempt to impose glamour into the narrative, that the choices often foisted upon us are those in which we became cynical to the battering of the senses; and by needing this to realign our view of the world we come to understand that sometimes a brutal truth is we deserve the fall out of our actions.

Ian D. Hall