My quick rating – 7.7/10. After spending so much time surrounded by horror, I can finally take a breather and enjoy something a little more lighthearted. Well, lighthearted by Marvel standards, anyway. With $2.5 billion at the box office, Spider-Man: Brand New Day certainly hasn’t had trouble finding an audience. Being a huge Marvel fan, I knew there would be plenty here for me to enjoy, along with a few more pieces falling into place for the bigger MCU picture.

Fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in a world that no longer remembers him, Peter Parker is dealing with the rather unfortunate side effect of having everyone he loves move on without him. That emotional pressure sparks a change in Peter that he may not have the power to control, resulting in a bit of a spider problem. LOL. Unfortunately, that transformation might also be the only thing capable of stopping a shocking new threat to the city and those he cares about, involving a powerful villain nobody can even see.

We begin with Spidey trying to explain to himself, or at least rehearse, what he would say to his former love MJ (Zendaya) about who he really is and why nobody remembers him. Apparently, some of these conversations require standing on top of ridiculously tall buildings. What is it with me and movies involving insane heights lately? Yesterday it was Fall 2, and now Spider-Man is giving me another reason to avoid looking down!

We get a montage of a day in the life of our friendly neighbourhood superhero, accompanied by TV on the Radio’s Wolf Like Me. Crime rates in New York are at an all-time low, and it doesn’t take long before we’re swinging through skyscrapers, chasing bad guys and enjoying the sort of spectacular action you’d expect from a $225 million budget. Along the way, there’s also an encounter with The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). I’ve done remarkably well avoiding spoilers, so some of these appearances were genuine surprises.

And then I got Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). Since the X-Men have always been my favorite comic book, seeing Jean pop up is particularly exciting. It feels like we’re one step closer to getting the whole gang into the MCU. Don’t mind me, just sitting here waiting for a completely fresh, from-the-ground-up X-Men movie. Bring it on!

There are some excellent web-slinging fight sequences, impressive visual effects and plenty of sentimental relationship material to balance out the action. Holland is very good once again, and director Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously delivered the excellent Shang-Chi, brings some particularly effective hand-to-hand combat sequences. The stunt work deserves plenty of credit, too. With Jackie Chan‘s world-renowned stunt team involved as action directors and choreographers, it’s hardly surprising that the physical action looks this good.

My biggest complaint is that some of the action sequences seem to end just when they’re getting really good. I wouldn’t have minded a little more time watching Spidey do his thing. Conversely, the overall runtime could have used a trim. At 145 minutes, it feels a little too long, and I reckon an even two hours would have done the trick. I also appreciated the more singular focus on Spider-Man rather than immediately throwing him into another team-up adventure.

I wouldn’t call it the greatest Spider-Man movie ever made, but it’s another excellent MCU entry and a welcome sign that Marvel is getting back on track. Think more Far from Home than No Way Home. Not quite the spectacular high point of the franchise, but there’s plenty to enjoy, a few surprises for the comic book fans, and enough to keep me looking forward to what’s coming next. A solid web-slinging good time!