Spider-Man: Brand New Day reviews praise superhero flick as a return to form as it's expected to break records

The reviews embargo for Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been lifted, and critics are calling it one of the best of the iconic web-slinger's films – and a return to form for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Critics had high praise for Brand New Day's returning star, Tom Holland, and they largely applauded the film's move away from the confusing bloat of the previous entry in the series, Spider-Man: No Way Home.

In particular, reviewers were happy to see the latest Spider-Man film move away from the multiverse concerns that have dogged both the series and the MCU as a whole in recent years.

The new film follows the ending of No Way Home, in which a spell cast by Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) caused everyone in the world to forget the existence of Spider-Man's secret identity, Peter Parker (Holland).

Brand New Day picks up four years later, after Parker has largely given up on his connection to the world around him and has devoted himself entirely to fighting crime as Spider-Man, even as his former girlfriend MJ (Holland's real-life wife, Zendaya, who stunned in a black arachnid-theme gown at the film's premiere on Monday in Los Angeles) has moved on with a new love interest after forgetting that they were ever a couple.

Amid the turmoil in his life, Parker's superpowers begin to undergo a sometimes disturbing evolution, which several critics compared approvingly to the direction taken by the popular original trilogy starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinger. 

In fact, Robbie Collin of The Telegraph spoke for several critics when he deemed Brand New Day to be the best of the Spider-Man films since Maguire donned the iconic red-and-blue suit.

One of the evolutions Parker goes through involves developing the ability to shoot organic webs through his own wrists, instead of using a mechanical device as in previous installments.

Collin called the change a 'masterstroke' that 'restores the showmanship of the Maguire-Sam Raimi years.'

'It’s what makes this the most purely enjoyable, cartoonishly ingenious installment in the series since 2004’s Spider-Man 2,' he added. 

The New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski wrote that the current Spider-Man series is the only part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe that he still looks forward to.

Oleksinski called Brand New Day a 'welcome reunion' with Holland and Peter Parker, though he noted that it was 'much darker' than previous Spider-Man entries.

He agreed with the comparisons to the Maguire years, writing, 'Tonally, Brand New Day is a lot more like Tobey Maguire’s aughts films, which to my mind are not only the gold standard of Spider-Man movies, but Marvel films as well.'

Unlike other critics who praised Brand New Day for leaving the multiverse obsession behind, the New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson still thought the movie's subservience to the development of the broader MCU left it feeling 'as if it’s carrying more franchise weight on its shoulders, and that leaves less room for emotional weight.'

However, she added that the film's lead helped to save Brand New Day from feeling too bloated and scattershot.  

'Nothing can erase the enjoyment of witnessing Holland’s performance, which remains winsome and wonderfully kinetic even if you know that’s got to be a computer-generated Spidey a lot of the time,' Wilkinson wrote.

The AV Club's Jesse Hassenger gave Brand New Day a respectable B+ rating and compared it to the Tobey Maguire trilogy.

'If it’s not especially close to the majesty of Spider-Man 2 (and lacks the delirious highs of Spider-Man 3), it’s also pretty handily the best MCU Spider-Man movie since Homecoming,' he wrote.

Hassenger also praised the film for finding the 'platonic ideal' of how to integrate MCU characters without letting them overpower the story. 

Nick Schager of The Daily Beast was even more positive on the new movie.

'With the possible exception of Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 2, it’s the wall-crawler’s best film to date,' he wrote, while praising how it 'marries spectacular action and surprisingly substantial character drama to amazing effect.'

Other critics thought the impact of the MCU prevented Brand New Day from being a successful Spider-Man sequel.

IndieWire critic David Ehrlich blasted it as 'dull and downbeat action sequel goes out of its way to epitomize why the mega-franchise has lost so, so much of its sauce over the last seven years.'

Ehrlich highlighted what he saw as Brand New Day's inability to juggle competing modes that were seemingly imposed on it by the MCU.

'The film . . . clumsily slings between a Peter Parker grief drama (trite), a Frank Castle buddy comedy (forced but funny), and a labored set-up for the next few Phases of Marvel character mix-and-match (a triumphant victory for entertainment lawyers everywhere),' he wrote.

Writing for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico gave Brand New Day a middling 2.5 stars out of four.

Like others, he saw a negative influence from the MCU and worried that the film was only a transitional piece to set up a bigger payoff.

'Affection for the characters who have been around for four movies now goes a long way to holding Brand New Day together,' Tallerico wrote, 'but it ultimately succumbs to one of the biggest problems of late-stage MCU: The feeling that it’s just preparation for more movies.'

For the Boston Globe, Odie Henderson singled out the deleterious effects of fan service in Brand New Day.

'Giving the fans what they want has always been the Marvel movies’ modus operandi and their fatal flaw,' Henderson wrote. 'Far too much time is spent in SM: BND on introducing characters or fan service situations that will be continued in future installments.'

As a consequence, he said the 'human drama between MJ, Ned [Jacob Batalon], and Peter gets lost, which is a shame because the actors inject humor and pathos into their roles,' and he opined that the loss of drama between the stars was particularly disappointing, as Zendaya had found the 'rare role that suits' her in MJ.

Early screenings for Spider-Man: Brand New Day will begin for Amazon Prime members in the US on Wednesday, July 29, while the film officially debuts in theaters on Friday, July 31.