“Superhero movie fatigue” has been increasing by the day it seems. General audiences and comic book fans have grown tired of what many consider mediocre superhero movies. There are others who are indifferent or don’t seek them out anymore. Madame Web is the first superhero movie that Sony is releasing this year, in a slate that includes Venom 3 and Kraven the Hunter. Unfortunately, Madame Web will likely add to that perception of fatigue. Madame Web is written by the same writing group of Morbius, Power Rangers (2017) & Gods of Egypt. The film is helmed by renowned director, S.J. Clarkson, who directed a few episodes of Jessica Jones & The Defenders shows several years back. The cast consists of Dakota Johnson, Isabela Merced, Sydney Sweeney , Celeste O’Connor, Adam Scott, Emma Roberts, and many other well-known actors.
The film’s main character, Cassandra Web (Dakota Johnson), is an EMT saving lives in New York. She works along with Ben Parker (Adam Scott), who is exactly the Ben you think he is. During an incident on the job, Cassandra has a near death experience where she gains mysterious new powers. She can see the future in an interconnected “web” that connects her and other supernatural beings. Cassandra begins to see premonitions of the future in her daily life and job. She eventually learns that a man named Ezekiel Sims is hunting down three innocent teenage girls who will become superheroes and defeat him in the near future. In addition, he was in the Amazon with Cassandra’s mom when she was researching spiders right before she died (sound familiar?). Early in the film, it’s established that Cassandra and the three teenagers are connected to each other somehow by coincidence or fate. They must work together to survive and learn to trust each other.
Hey everyone, remember Spider-Man?
Madame Web’s cinematography and color grading is decent for the most part. It gives off an early 2000’s vibe of NY. The film tries to give a dreary, horror vibe during certain scenes for killing, fighting, or intimacy, but ends up poorly executed. Some scenes show Madame’s visions as “disturbing” or “horrific” but the strange editing choices don’t work. The concept and premise of the film are interesting but it’s bogged down due to its desire to remind audiences that this is connected to Spider-Man. Characters in this film are given obvious, on-the-nose dialogue related to Spider-Man lore which is very annoying. Even the camera zooming in and out of “webs”, web-related Cloths, and many others.
The film does not explain very well how Madame Web and Ezekiel Sims get their powers, and expects the audience to just go along with it. Sims (Tahar Rahim) is a bland and unmemorable superhero villain. Sims has no depth or personality, with his entire goal seemingly to chase the three girls due to his visions. Ezekiel’s fights and kills are poorly edited and awkward. His voice is also altered in some scenes, which is distracting and downright annoying. The film does not reveal anything about his goals or history. He only says vague things about his past that are never explored. Ezekiel’s villain suit is also nothing special.
Madame Web’s Forgettable Characters
The film’s soundtrack is forgettable and generic, and does not match the scenes or the rhythm of the storyline. Cassandra’s character is a loner and an awkward woman in her 30s who lives by herself and avoids socializing, which is never explored, and neither is her relationship with her mother. Adam Scott does his best for the role of being a great companion for Cassandra; Ben’s definitely the optimistic one of the pair while Cassandra is the introverted pessimist. Isabela Merced (Anya Corazon), Sydney Sweeney (Julia Carpenter), Celeste O’Connor (Mattie Franklin) are teenage characters who have their own challenges. Mattie Franklin is a rebellious girl with a bad attitude, Anya Corazon is the smart and sensible girl of the group, and Julia Carpenter is a timid and troubled girl who has family problems. The characters are flat and uninteresting, and we do not learn much about them. The actresses have to say clichéd and boring lines that attempt to emulate teenage dialogue. The film does not show their backgrounds or personalities in-depth, a running theme for most of the characters. They have little influence on the story or the ending, except for following and running away with Cassandra. They’re simply…there.
Madame Web is yet another superhero film with poor writing, sloppy CGI, and mediocre acting and editing. Fans of similar movies like Venom and Morbius might enjoy it. There are no post-credit scenes to look forward to.
Madame Web releases in theaters on February 14.
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