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Post date: March 28, 2024
By Connor Stockschlader
With superhero movies being a very popular genre, it makes sense to continue the foray into making a film about a more unknown character, potentially one with a lot of potential into a solo story. When looking at the potential candidates, Sony picked Madame Web, a supporting character in Marvel Comics to add on to their infamous Spider-Man side character films. After their previous attempt Morbius had failed at the box office and reviews alike, Sony needed a big hit to prove themselves, and with a cast including Dakota Johnson, Sidney Sweeney, and Adam Scott, along with a budget of $80 million, the movie was absolutely brimming with potential success. So what went wrong, I have to ask?
Even before the film was released, the trailer was mocked online for its cheesy delivery and odd choices. And the following critic previews were not kind either. But even with all of this hatred, I decided to see the movie with an open mind, watching to see if there was more to this web than meets the eye. As soon as the movie started, I was immediately bombarded with a storm filled with every problem known to man. The bad effects, weird acting, characters being snarky in every line, and camera work that looks worse than the least professional college project. My attempts to stop laughing at the movie resulted in tears as the movie only continued to get worse. Plot points seemed to be missing, with a villain whose acting seems like they got the job only because of nepotism seeming to have no real motivations or goals outside of a sudden prophecy.
This in turn, only makes his turn into villainy and treachery by murder to get powers only more confusing. The plot continues to escalate into absurd territory as the three future Spider Girls (Who were prominently shown to have powers that never happen in the film), are hunted down by the villain Ezekiel. As the three are found by Cassie, played by Dakota Johnson, the three are kept safe, with the only seeming problem being the non stop bickering between the three. Cassie’s supposed “heroism” is brought down when you realize through abduction, child endangerment, vandalism, Grand theft auto (Twice), and driving one of those cars through a restaurant, not to mention destroying an entire building. Whilst Ezekiel seemingly only kills a handful of people and plans to kill more, it seems that Cassie in her attempt to save three lives, ends many more.
On top of problems such as the amount of advertising for Pepsi slapping you in the face (including the climactic final battle next to a giant glowing sign with the logo), confusing choices like the villain jumping into the path of a car 10 feet in the air and a now blind Cassie looking out a window, Madame Web is a movie with choices that span the insane to the truly bizarre. Outside of the problems with the movie, the actors openly show disdain to what they were likely tricked into joining and the advertising showing several plot points not in the film, you can’t help to see why Madame Web has only made $77 million, a very low amount for a superhero movie. And despite the attempts for the film to convey otherwise, the chances of a sequel are minimal, with even the actors openly hating the movie. While the tagline claims that “Her web connects them all”, it seems like the connection didn’t seem to make it to the final product.
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