The collision between an impossible expectation of objectivity and deep passion/knowledge of a subject can make for a helluva complicated film review, am I right Emily Wilson? Spider-Man is no Odysseus and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is no Odyssey…to other people. But in my life, no mythological figure has loomed larger than old webhead, and no story has taken up more space in my psyche than Peter Parker’s never-ending quest to be responsible and kind, while sometimes making jokes that only he finds funny.

A quick aside before we get sticky with my boy spidey: The whole “discourse” around Wilson versus Christopher Nolan is…great? Set aside whatever nits you wish to pick, we are currently living in a world where people are passionate about the cinematic adaptation of an old-ass poem and a critical rejoinder published in The London Review of Books. We’re doing it! We’re having dialogue about art! It’s often overheated and can be really icky, but also…yay!

Now let’s shift back to a movie in which the Punisher (John Bernthal) shoots the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in the face with guns.

Picking up in the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Brand New Day follows Peter (Tom Holland) at his loneliest. His Aunt May (Marisa Tomei)? Dead. His girlfriend, Mary Jane (Zendaya)? Mind wiped by Doctor Strange to forget that Peter exists. His best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon)? Also made amnesic by the aforementioned sorcerer. Without any loved ones to anchor him, Peter does what we’re all trained to do in this economy: He works himself to near death.

His job is Spider-Man, which is way cooler than all our jobs, which are Emails And Meetings. But still, he has no work-life balance at all. The cop he chats with, Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), is worried about him burning out. And that’s before a mysterious figure (Sadie Sink) begins mentally controlling folks like the Incredible Hulk for mysterious reasons that were maybe kept mysterious by the marketing team in order to suggest that they are more significant than they actually are.

Because the reality is that Brand New Day is, as one perfect actress says in her brief cameo, “small potatoes.” I am physically sickened by Marvel marketing phrases like “street level.” In reality, this is just a “regular” storyline in Amazing Spider-Man, a series that is about to hit 1000 issues very soon. Not all of those issues are blockbuster blowouts or set up massive crossover events. Most of them just follow Peter trying to be nice and do good while spectacularly failing at relationships. That is what makes him the best superhero. And that is what director Destin Daniel Cretton and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers fully capture.

Homecoming and Far From Home, Holland’s first two standalone Spider-Man flicks, came so very close to nailing what Cretton perfectly depicts here. The blend of action and comedy, the genuine pathos (albeit about a situation caused by a magic spell), and the delightful dynamics between Spider-Man and a seemingly random collection of heroes and villains (ninjas?!?!) add up to emulate the je ne sais quoi that has kept this sad sack goofball number one in my heart since I was a kid.

Maybe it’s that Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man sucked too much oxygen out of the room, flattening the interplay between all of the characters into the flat sameness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even in the Spider-Man movies he didn’t actually appear in but just loomed over. The Punisher had multiple seasons of a TV show, logging dang near 30 hours of screentime, and yet he becomes entirely different when bounced off of Spidey. He becomes, you know, dumb in his brooding darkness. Other characters shine too, but we’re not allowed to talk about that openly yet.

Holland flourishes here, seemingly fully stepping into the role for the first time. He’s lived in it for so long, and is by far the best to take up the mantle, but the film’s title is ambitiously apropos. Same Spidey, new depth. He’s helped by Zendaya, who gives a remarkably nuanced and heartfelt performance, anchoring the film whenever it threatens to get too wacky.

There isn’t an insane amount of action, but all of it is good. There aren’t impossibly high stakes, but everything very much feels like it “matters.” There isn’t some innovative thesis about trauma/loss/the state of the world, but it absolutely has something to say.

And what it has to say is that doing the right thing is hard and confusing. Trying to be a good person is an imperfect process, and you’re likely to get hurt, hurt others, and do it wrong. Community and compassion are the only things that can make life worth living, no matter how responsible you are. That, my friends, is the core of Spider-Man.

You can keep your Odysseus. That’s my dude.

Grade = A-

Other Critical Voices to Consider

Susan Kamyab from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists says, “When the action does kick in, the film is thrilling, but those moments are few and far between. This is far more of a character study than a traditional superhero blockbuster. The humor is sprinkled throughout, the action satisfies when it is needed, but it is the emotional journey that ultimately carries this thoughtful and heartfelt story about our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

Jeanine T. Abraham at VisAbleBlackwoman says, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day is worth every single bit of the hype. Writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have crafted a script that centers on empathy, compassion, and work-life balance. It also deals with loneliness, heartbreak, grief, and friendship.”

Shalini Langer at The Indian Express says, “there is one crucial element missing in this Spider-Man, which is at the heart of it a story about a boy: sheer fun. While Holland swings and swooshes, and has his web feature malfunction as he battles the changes within him, Brand New Day gets caught up (often literally) in the dynamics of it and never actually in the flying of it – the kind of flight where you can feel the rush in your ears and the wind in your hair.”