There is a scene early on in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that is breathtaking and an indication of the film could have been. It’s not a fight scene, nor a romantic kiss between Spidey and his girlfriend, Mary Jane. It’s Peter Parker swinging through New York City in the rain. To protect his friends and family, Spidey had the sorcerer Doctor Strange erase everyone’s memories. Peter Parker has found himself in a world where he sees familiar faces, but no one knows who he is.
For the first 20 minutes of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this works beautifully. Star Tom Holland acts with genuine hurt on his face and yet is also understated. He is grieving for his old friends and family. He goes to a party, passing himself off as a friendly neighbor. He sees his best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and his best girl MJ (played by Holland’s real-life wife, Zendaya). Then he sees MJ being kissed by another man—her new boyfriend.
Wracked by grief, Peter Parker swings home in the rain. Director Destin Daniel Cretton creates a luminescent, otherworldly backdrop and mystic flow as the web-slinger floats through the city. He is, like all of us, both reaching for heaven and earthbound. He rises to an apex, the camera looking down on him like bird, then lets go, allowing himself to gently drop into the rain and the emptiness below. Then he spins another web, glides along the caverns of Manhattan, and heads for home. Suddenly, we are no longer in a superhero movie, but in a Terrence Malick film.
It is the high point —both literally and figuratively—of what had been, up to that point, about 20 minutes of flawless filmmaking.
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