What started with a unique premise and intricate storyline, Madame Web quickly became more tangled up than, well, a fly in a spider’s web. In an effort to tap into the Spider-Man hype, (delicately without ever mentioning everyone’s favourite web-slinger overtly), director S.J. Clarkson took a former side character from the comic pages and gave her the full-fledged superhero movie treatment, which seemed promising, but failed to deliver.
Madame Web certainly had a drawn-out timeline – beginning to be developed in 2019, green-lit by Sony in 2020, filmed in 2022 and was rumoured to be still having re-shoots last year. The storyline has overhauled Madame Web’s image in an effort to make her more appealing to the masses. Gone is the frail older woman who is just there to help out ol’ Spidey, and in walks Cassie Web (Dakota Johnson) paramedic and apparently gifted with spider powers as a result of a bite from a magical Peruvian spider her mother received while she was still in utero. The premise of the movie sees Cassie trying to stop the local Big Bad Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim), who is also a benefactor of the magic Peruvian spider, from killing three teenage girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O’Connor) before they can also be bitten by these spooky spiders and then kill him in the future. Oh, he’s also friends with her dead mother and was helping her discover these conveniently helpful spiders in depths of the jungles of Peru. Were you following all that?
Despite the convoluted story line, it is fairly well produced. From sweeping south american rainforests to the gritty streets of New York the cinematography is solid and engaging, but not overly unique or jaw-dropping. With added clunky editing it is pretty distracting. The special effects do work quite well at creating visuals for Madame Web’s psychic powers and weaving in the time jumps that are so critical to the story.
Unfortunately, it is also important to mention the lack-lustre acting from two of the leading actresses – Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeny. They both seem disengaged and their performances aren’t fully believable. While this could have been remedied by the other two girls, Isabela Merced and Celeste O’Connor, who both are emotive and passionate, without being overplayed – our bad spider guy is another let down. He’s a little too crazy and a little too overpowered to be a convincing villain – which is sad as Rahim is a former César winner and has been very successful in other films.
Even from the trailers it was clear that this film wasn’t going to be an instant cult classic, but it is sad to see a female-lead superhero movie fail to launch. Especially one that has a decently diverse cast and unique premise. It might be best to give this one a miss.
4/10
