Movie Review: In ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ a lonely superhero grows up and looks inward

Are the ears playing tricks on us? Or does Tom Holland’s Peter Parker sound, at the beginning of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” like more of a native New Yorker than before?

The cadence, the sort-of Queens accent — it’s striking, as we watch Peter chat on the phone with police captain Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) about the crimes plaguing the city that’ll have him springing into action, because he’s a full-time Spidey now. But behind the chipper banter, there’s an underlying melancholy. Anyone who saw the last movie, of course, knows we’ve embarked on a lonely era for Spider-Man.

When we last saw Peter, he was buying the saddest takeout coffee of his web-slinging life. Girlfriend MJ was at the doughnut shop counter, but had no idea who he was, her memory of Peter erased as part of a sacrifice he’d made to save the world.

“It would be as though you never existed,” Doctor Strange had told him before casting the fateful spell at the end of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” But Peter was resolute: “Do it.” And now, four years later, he's paying the emotional price.

Peter lives alone in a drab apartment; beloved Aunt May, of course, died in the last film. He’s been watching via social media as MJ (Zendaya) and best buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon) have the time of their lives at MIT. That was once the dream for all three: living and learning together at school. Didn’t quite work out that way.

These early moments of “Brand New Day” set the tone for a different kind of movie. It's not the surprise-a-minute, fan-funfest of “No Way Home,” which, in piercing open the multiverse, brought us a hugely satisfying set of reunions. There were all the old villains — Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman. But nothing beat the return of our two previous Spideys, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield arriving to bond with Holland over emotional arcs, backaches and web-shooting technique.

Hard to top that, certainly. And “Brand New Day” definitely lags, sorry to say, in its third act, when approaching (and passing, handily) the two-hour mark.

There are, though, rewards of a different kind in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s film, for diehard fans who seek them. Jon Bernthal gives an appealing turn as The Punisher. Mark Ruffalo flexes his muscles here too, and Sadie Sink is a very welcome addition, although telling you more might get us banished to another universe (mere mention of her character’s name drew applause at my screening.) Likewise, there’s a funny cameo with someone who holds meetings in a public bath, but don’t ask us to elaborate.

The main reward, though, is Holland, who, a decade into the role, seems increasingly human and vulnerable. Holland is also, well, 30 years old, and the natural creases in his face signify layers to his portrayal as well.

We begin, of course, in New York City, which can be the busiest and the loneliest place, all at once. And that’s the best way to describe Peter’s newly anonymous life, on bustling streets where not a soul knows him. They just know that Spider-Man is an ace crime-fighter. Those streets have never been safer.

Alongside the usual urban crimes, Peter’s been recruited by the Department of Damage Control — and the agency’s head, Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman) — to help identify an invisible, insidious threat, a plotline that frankly never feels that compelling. It’s the personal stuff that keeps the attention.

To wit: At home, Peter’s been writing a letter to MJ, telling her the story of their love. Then one day he sees Ned, newly graduated from MIT, and follows him to his new apartment, where, wouldn’t ya know, he rooms with MJ. She's just turned down a job, telling Ned: “Something is just telling me that I’m waiting for something great.”

But is it Peter? MJ does have a new boyfriend. Seeing that, a dejected Peter heads home, letter undelivered.

Don’t we all want to see Spidey and MJ back together, swinging joyfully around town? Obviously, we can’t tell you what happens between them. Or much of anything else. Such is the challenge — there are more sticky spoilers in Spidey films than there are sticky Spidey webs.

But speaking of those webs … things start changing, strangely, in Peter’s body. Suddenly, the webs start generating organically, for one thing — à la Maguire's Peter. And there are blinding headaches. It’s actually a DNA imbalance.

Director Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) puts his Marvel experience to good use here, and weaves nicely together a set of subplots — including telepathy and possession — that keep the film moving, though 20-some minutes could easily have been trimmed from the denouement.

The urban cityscapes are lovely, as Spidey swings through the Big Apple. Holland, though, is best in close-up, with the hood off, showing time and again how his is a newly grown Spider-Man.

The story ends on a note of community and interreliance; nobody can go it alone, the message goes. This is driven home nicely in one final image, a simple, sweet handshake with a most unexpectedly poignant punch. After a quarter-century worth of movies, “Spider-Man” still has surprises up its sleeve.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” a Columbia Pictures release, has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association “for sequences of action/violence and some language.” Running time: 145 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.