Sony’s Spider-Man Cinematic Universe is one of the strangest things modern cinema has given us. After all, even though Spider-Man appears right in the title, the superhero himself is not in the films. This is due to the nuances of agreements between Sony, Marvel and Disney, but these explanations do not make it easier for the end viewer, because at the end he gets something on the level of “Morbius” in quality. No miracles were expected from Madame Web even at the announcement stage. We tell you in our review how the film turned out in the end.
Pros:
interesting concept and idea of cinema; In the first minutes, the film correctly builds the stakes and introduces the characters; generally good technical implementation; some people will like local references
Minuses:
storylines are not resolved in the right way; Cassandra’s abilities work in a noticeably strange way; the film almost makes a clown out of the thief; general confusion and meaninglessness of the story
Madame Web
Genre superhero adventure
Directed by S. J. Clarkson
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Emma Roberts, Sydney Sweeney, Adam Scott, Isabela Merced, Zasha Memet
Premiere* cinemas
Release year 2024
IMDb website
Casandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) works as a paramedic in New York and generally enjoys her hard work because this way she can help people. But after an accident, when the girl’s heart stopped for several minutes, her life begins to go awry. First, Cassandra discovers a gift of foresight that she cannot control, and then it turns out that only she can save three schoolgirls from a powerful enemy. And it all has something to do with Webb’s past.
Most viewers know Madame Web thanks to the 1994 Spider-Man animated series, which is still considered unsurpassed by many fans. There, the heroine was an old woman who has knowledge about the future, which regularly spoiled Peter Parker’s plans for an ordinary life.
Madame Web in the film is a young woman who has just received her powers, and even in their essence there are enough differences between the new film adaptation and the cartoon with comics. So this already needs to be taken into account; “Madame Web” does not flirt too much with the original source.
This approach freed up the hands of filmmakers, because they could make an interesting original story in their own context and without additional restrictions. And you can see that this is exactly what they were trying to do.
At the level of concept and even the first minutes, the film creates intrigue and hints of interest.
As for a superhero movie, Madame Web revolves around the unconventional idea of confrontation between an almost ordinary person and a villain with physical superpowers, who must be defeated by various tricks.
But this idea turns into complete absurdity due to its implementation. On the one hand, we have Cassandra’s psychic abilities, which work in a somewhat strange way. They have no clear structure, which leaves most of the film wondering how or what is even happening. The stylization of abilities is also manifested through very harsh and uncomfortable editing.
On the other hand, we have the main villain Ezekiel Sims, who has quite the powers of Spider-Man. But the film does everything it can to make him look like a total loser. Because he constantly fails, and all the harm he receives is staged in an almost comedic manner. It is impossible to take seriously a thief who is either hit by a car or pushed away with a piece of wall. And this further ruins the entire movie experience.
The film focuses on a trio of schoolgirls who are also expected to gain powers similar to those of Spider-Man. It’s not for nothing that they were placed on the poster, right? And here you can relax, because there are only two scenes with Spider-Women in the movie. Only one of them is important for the plot. That is, here Sony made a banal bait, clickbait in a cinematic format.
But even the storylines of the schoolgirls do not receive adequate development. The film tries to tell about everyone at once, but it only turns out to be about Cassandra – and even then with many “ales”. Here you can see the beginnings of a traditional script structure for modern films, but it is so illusory and shaky that you shouldn’t pin much hope on it.
Madame Web is not an outright bad movie. In the same “Morbius” there were more scenes that made you want to literally erase this film from your memories forever. Madame Web is more neutral in this sense. This is both a plus and a minus. Because the film ends up bland, it doesn’t go into “so bad it’s good” territory. You can’t even get that kind of positivity from him.
What else is there in the cinema? Slightly strange moments that are reminiscent of Doctor Strange, too many sudden loud sounds that will definitely scare someone when watching, and also a generally good technical component. But it seemed like there wasn’t enough money for some scenes.
The main problem is that there is nothing special to say about Madame Web. Even the references to Peter Parker himself remain only at the level of vague hints, so it is impossible to fully perceive them.
“Madame Web” became a victim of its own advertising campaign, during which almost all viewers immediately called the movie a failure, and the film crew in all interviews seemed to make excuses for the result, but no one had seen it yet. Because this film cannot be called outright bad. He is simply bad, even with elements of “average”. Which, in terms of emotional perception, is even worse than being bright trash.
Oh, yes, there is no post-credits scene in the movie, so you can safely leave the show. At any time convenient for you, that’s it.
Conclusion:
It’s great to watch Madame Web right after Morbius because then the good parts of the first one will be more obvious. But this is still a very specific film. And if with this Sony wants to begin a new stage in the development of its Spider-Man cinematic universe without Spider-Man, then this calls into question the entire feasibility of the existence of such a franchise.
