Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Spider-Man Brand New Day review says the film gives great fan service, but casual observers find themselves wishing they hadn’t been caught in this particular web.

I wasn’t quite ready, and frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever be, for yet another Spider-Man film, especially with Tom Holland, 30 and Zendaya, 29, as the same goofy kids they’ve been playing for almost ten years now. They’ve grown up, gotten married, and have played a lot more serious and mature characters in the ensuing years.

As you may or may or may not recall, Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered in 2017. Three more films, with the same cast would follow. In the Spiderverse, the kids must age very slowly. In Spider-Man Brand New Day they are likely around 21, having just graduated from MIT, while somehow living in New York.

For me, cast fatigue has set in, and is especially amplified and accentuated by the fact that only two weeks ago we saw Holland, Zendaya and John Bernthal in pivotal rolls as Greek legends in the Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey.

It’s not easy for audiences to accept them to go from Telemachus to Peter Parker, from Athena to MJ and from King Menelaus to Punisher in a matter of days. I felt like I was experiencing cinematic whiplash.

Spider-Man Brand New Day review — Beyond the cast

Of course the unfortunate timing of the release has nothing to do with the quality of the film itself, but it does affect the casual viewers’ experience—and not especially in a good way. It’s an unnecessary distraction — toga or jeans? Who wore them better?

But when attention finally returns exclusively to this particular Spiderverse, there’s the disappointing awareness that there isn’t a lot new and fresh to see. At the beginning in the obligatory action sequence, we see the seminal web slinger tangling with, and inevitably thwarting the Scorpion, with multiple aw shucks attempts to avoid collateral damage along the way.

Same scene, different villains, occurs several times in every movie. Surprisingly enough, new to the franchise director Destin Daniel Cretton did not introduce much originality.

The plot’s premise is that this “brand new day” is not a bright and shiny one, but one where (as the last film reveals) Peter’s friends have had  their memories of him completely wiped, in order to be saved. Peter is living the lonely life of a crime fighter without friends or family to support him.

Much moping and harmless stalking ensues.

Eventually, a new, mostly invisible villain arises, whose motives are equally undefined. It isn’t long before Peter’s old friends inadvertently become involved.

Along the way, laboriously stuffed into this bulging piñata of a film, we see multiple Marvel super and anti heroes come and go without much reason. I counted Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Sadie Sink as Jean Grey from X-Men, Michael Mando as Mac Gargan/Scopion, the afore mentioned Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher, and Florence Pugh in a particularly amusing take on Yelena Belova/Black Widow.

I’m sure there were others that I missed, but I thought I did a pretty good job of identifying the ones I did, for someone who grew up only Marvel adjacent.

Sure, the special effects were flawless and impressive as always, and the main characters show a bit more depth than usual, but these assets were not enough to sustain my interest for almost two-and-a-half looooooong hours.

When it appeared that the film was wrapping up, I began to collect my things to get ready to leave, but audibly groaned when my critic friend leaned over and whispered, “you know there’s still an hour left in the film, don’t you?”

In essence, the film gives brilliant fan service—those who have been breathlessly following the Spiderverse for decades will doubtless be thrilled by it.

But those of us who check in only occasionally, or when indisputable craftsmanship like we’ve seen in Prime’s Spider Noir with Nicolas Cage lures us into the web, just may be left yawning.

Rated PG-13

2 Hours 25 Minutes

If this Spider-Man Brand New Day  review entices you to swing on over to your friendly neighborhood cineplex, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Spider-Man Brand New Day review says the film gives great fan service, but casual observers find themselves wishing they hadn’t been caught in this particular web.