Madame Web is Sony’s most recent venture into the Marvel universe, and it’s certainly an attempt. Directed by S.J. Clarkson, Madame Web feels like a film that came up short on everything it sets up. The movie, including the advertising, leads you to think it’s something it isn’t. It’s a massive waste of potential.
Cassandra Webb, played by actress Dakota Johnson, is a paramedic who begins to have visions of the future after a near-death experience. Her powers lead her to save three teenagers, each of whom is being targeted by a villain named Ezekiel Sims. The story revolves around Webb protecting the teens and discovering the origins of her supernatural abilities.
This movie does have some upsides. First, a lot of the acting was good, even if it was hindered by the script. Second, the backstory of the characters was interesting and much different than a normal “Spider-Man” story. It felt like a lot more depth than Disney’s Spider-Man, and made the character seem more unique than a wise-cracking guy being silly while fighting crime.
Despite the few things this movie does have going for it, they pale in comparison to the downsides. The writing and story are abysmal and unrealistic, even for a movie about spider people that climb on walls. Many plot events happen because they’re needed for the story, and they ignore any of the world beyond the main cast.
Characters will constantly put themselves in harm’s way and do so unnecessarily.“I felt the three girls were pretty dumb throughout the film. Like, ‘we have to help the pregnant lady, so we go to the most dangerous place to get caught, the city,’” Junior Christopher Santos explains.
Most of the characters are unlikeable for this reason. Despite the performance, Webb is insufferable for a sizable chunk of the movie. She’ll make extremely frustrating decisions and, at many points, actually end up putting the girls in more danger. Sims also feels like a complete joke, never coming off as an intense or intimidating villain. Seeing his spider crawl on the ceiling looks sillier than it does scary.
The editing style of the movie is very flashy and fast-paced. It works in some scenes, but it feels nauseating when the screen is constantly moving. There’s a scene when characters are having a conversation in a dream, and watching it feels akin to suffering a brain hemorrhage.
This movie also leads you to believe it’s something it’s not. The advertising and even the beginning of the movie make people think that it’s going one way, and it completely changes at the end. While the point is to make Madame Web seem like she’s in control of her future, it just ends up making the whole movie feel like a set-up to nothing. It’s incredibly unrewarding.
Madame Web’s issues aren’t even fully on-screen. The movie struggled with constant script changes, even after Johnson had signed onto the project. The movie apparently had an entirely different plot and feel, with Johnson describing the edits made as “drastic.”
“The movie felt like it wasn’t properly reviewed; it felt like a high school project,” notes Junior Toby Kern. “No wonder the lines were so bad; I bet they weren’t properly prepared since the changes,” He continued.
If you’re going into this expecting a hit Sony Spider-Man movie like their animated ones, don’t. If you’re expecting a hilarious, illogical, cash-grabby mess, you’ll have the time of your life watching Madame Web.
