Whether you are feeling the superhero comic book film fatigue, or the industry feels like it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel or maybe it’s a bit of both. The latest offering from Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios collaboration is following on the heels of several films in 2023 that were lacklustre at the box office including Shazam 2, Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Aquaman 2 and The Marvels. So it’s no wonder that Madame Web, as the first superhero film for 2024 has its work cut out for it.
Madame Web directed by S.J. Clarkson introduces us to a lesser known character from the Spider-verse in Cassandra “Cassie” Webb (Dakota Johnson). Cassie is a 30-something paramedic who after a near-death experience, develops clairvoyance that connects her to a mysterious man named Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) and three teenage girls, Julia (Sydney Sweeney), Anya (Isabela Merced) and Mattie (Celeste O’Connor) that Ezekiel is intent on killing. In order for Cassie to save the girls, she must understand her past and how to control her new found powers of seeing the future to prevent the worst.
Conceptually the story sounds perfectly fine albeit more intimate and simple than previous films. Unfortunately though the screenplay, a concoction by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Claire Parker, and director Clarkson reeks of simplistic time loop mechanics, inexplicable time and location jumps and cringe dialogue. The most egregious of all being a mangled rip-off of the iconic “with great power, comes great responsibility” line that caused an audible groan in the room.
The film also takes great pains to place itself in 2003 with glaringly obvious product placements, but somehow refuses to be part of the wider Sony Spider-man canon universe. So even though we get Ben Parker (Adam Scott, as a young Uncle Ben) there’s no indication that any actual Spiderverse people exist in this universe, including no cameos or even an mid-credit teaser scene to connect it to other stories which could be considered a benefit for those who don’t want to be invested. On a definite positive note, the cinematography by Mauro Fiore at least takes some imaginative attempts to add energy and dynamism to the action onscreen.
Dakota Johnson manages to elicit a few chuckles in the first act as we get to know Cassie and how socially awkward and introverted she is, and in turn relatable. Dropping a very squirm inducing introductory ice breaker during a baby shower, which tells us immediately she isn’t good with people. But once we cross the halfway mark the dialogue becomes painful, her delivery flat and borderline emotionless. Which results in us not really believing that she’s invested in the safety of the three teens in her care.
Sweeney, Merced and O’Connor are given not much to do, besides be bait for the villain and general plot devices. Squeezed into a few minutes of screentime, we find out that all three girls have poor relationships with their families and so we should somehow feel sorry for them, but there’s been no real display of their characters onscreen to warrant that from the audience. Tahar Rahim fares even worse as a one dimensional villain intent on murdering three girls for something they haven’t even done yet. Excuse me sir, you need to go to therapy.
In an era where filmgoers get to choose from a gluttony of better Spider-man films, and even the two Venom films have their charm. Any of those are worth a re-watch rather than seeing this film. Particularly since this neither adds nor detracts from those other stories.
1 STAR (OUT OF FIVE)
Originally published on Spotlight Report here.
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