At the moment, Hollywood suffers from a trend that is affecting contemporary cinema, the urgency of creating shared universes in a series of films that are excessively high-grossing. All production companies try to emulate the success of Avengers: Endgame (95%) or Spider-Man: No Way Home (92%) and this ambition means that creative decisions remain in the background, giving priority to commercial decisions that end in a lot of heartless movies.
With the idea of creating its own shared universe, Sony has been making films of villains or secondary characters from the world of Spider-Man, unfortunately with very negative results (speaking specifically of live-action films, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (100 %) and its sequel are excellent). From the moderately entertaining Venom (35%) to the disastrous Morbius (21%) they have not gotten a good movie and Madame Web (14%) seems to be one more in the collection of failures.
What is 'Madame Web' about?
Cassandra "Cassie" Webb ( Dakota Johnson ) is a paramedic in Manhattan who after suffering a near-death accident develops powers of clairvoyance. Having visions of three girls who will be attacked, she decides to help them, only to discover that the three have an important destiny. Julia Cornwall ( Sydney Sweeney ), Anya Corazon ( Isabela Merced ) and Mattie Franklin ( Celeste O'Connor ) will become superheroes in the future and Ezequiel Zims ( Tahar Rahim ) tries to prevent it. To help them Cassie will have to face her past where she may be the key to being victorious.
Madame Web seems to suffer from all the flaws that made Morbius a failure, a haphazard script, a confusing narrative, poor visual effects, and good actors trapped in a bad movie. Critics emphasize the waste of great potential, as several comment that the plot could well have developed into a great story, but instead they took the path of clichés. The general consensus is that it is a bad movie, whether it is entertaining enough will be a matter of what mood you are in when you see it, if you decide to see it.
What do the critics say about 'Madame Web'?
Nick Schager de The Daily Beast:
...is a tortuous saga that unfortunately goes in circles trying to create a competent tone or coherent action sequence (...) Written by Clarkson, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker, Madame Web is full of bad dialogue delivered bad for talented men and women stuck with shoddy material and equally lousy management, and no one is worse served than Rahim.
Richard Lawson de Vanity Fair:
...Madame Web is a quiet affair: not entirely terrible, but certainly not good, neither inert nor as meme-worthy as expected. It's a strange film whose tortured existence is most compelling. Here we have a film that's seemingly connected to the Spider-Man universe, and yet seemingly unable to commit to tying itself directly to that lore.
Molly Freeman de Screen Rant:
...is boring, unimaginative and dated, despite being one of the few superhero movies focused on female superheroes (...) Madame Web shows how difficult it is to tell the story of a character related to Spider-Man without the Peter Parker himself, especially when the original world-building is sparse and contrived at best. Somehow, Madame Web makes gaining superpowers from a radioactive spider bite seem more plausible and simplistic. Sure, there's no shortage of ridiculous stories in Marvel Comics, but Cassie Web's backstory and her Madame Web powers are so bafflingly absurd that it's ridiculous.
Andrew J. Salazar de Discussing Film:
Madame Web is by no means the worst the genre has to offer. She has a completely forgettable villain whose motivation is explained in simple lines of dialogue, a boring origin story, and an ending that might contradict the entire spirit of what director SJ Clarkson was going for. This is true! What cannot be denied is how entertaining it can be, both for the good and the bad. Madame Web is destined for endless memes and the “so bad she's good” treatment. People tried to do the same thing with Morbius, but in this case, we have a film that you can see had unique ambitions and a clear vision, but was stumped by the usual Sony studio antics. It's not a good movie, but will it be a good time when you watch it with your friends? That answer could be a resounding yes.
Tessa Smith de Mama's Geeky:
Madame Web suffers from a poor script, a weak villain, and a real connection to the Marvel/Sony universe. There are some bright spots scattered throughout, but not enough to save it (...) Throughout the film, there are several scenes with dialogue so embarrassing that it is ridiculous, and not in a good way. Whenever something happens, they make sure you know exactly what's going on; for example, Cassie goes to the Amazon for a week and the audience is told at least three times that she will be gone for a week. Strange decisions are made and there are many convenient plot points that are used simply to move the story forward.
Chris Bumbray from JoBlo :
Madame Web is, unfortunately, a big disaster. I don't know exactly what happened, but the four credited writers can't make a compelling addition to the Spider-verse. Like so many movies of this type, it pokes fun at what the movie's fans really want to see (...) It has to be said that some of the dialogue here is CLOWN. It's packed with so much exposition and references to other Spider-Man characters that it becomes cheesy (...) Dakota Johnson does her best, but it seems uncomfortable for a superhero movie. She's always been more comfortable with more daring dishes, like the new version of Suspiria, but she tries. She gives Cassie some attitude and is entertaining until the lousy epilogue, where her performance becomes quite cheesy, which doesn't bode well for this long-awaited franchise.
Prabhjot Bains de But Why Tho? ,
Madame Web's complete lack of originality is a testament to how corporatized and soulless it feels. Trying to capitalize on the framework of “stalker” movies, Clarkson's flop retains none of the style, palpability, and sense of risk that make them so memorable.
Gregory Ellwood de The Playlist:
...Madame Web, for better or worse, isn't even really a superhero movie. You never hear Spider-Woman or even Madame Web's name spoken by anyone (and Spider-Man? Peter Parker? Who?). Instead, the Sony Pictures release is essentially a supernatural thriller about a woman with precognitive abilities who protects three teenagers from a spider-powered madman. Another version of this film could focus on the horror aspect of that scenario with much more convincing results. But oh, this is not that movie. It is not at all.
Benjamin Lee de The Guardian:
With a script written by four people, including its director, SJ Clarkson, a location that is primarily Boston that doubles as New York, and a protagonist who looks like she'd rather be anywhere else, there's something sickeningly compelling about the disjointed and how completely incompetent Madame Web is (...) There is nothing brave or credible about any of this. The film is as silly and ridiculous as the worst of the genre, with terrible television effects, unattractive action and unfunny and inelegant dialogue, with its characters drowning in poorly written exposition.
Valerie Complex de Deadline:
The fact that Madame Web has failed to engage on any significant level serves as a reminder of the importance of passion, care, and authenticity in filmmaking. This film comes across as a vehicle to maintain interest in the Spider-Man universe, rather than a genuine attempt to offer a refreshing take on the Spider-Man story that champions female protagonists and introduces a suspenseful narrative. tangible.
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