'Madame Web' Review: A Tangled, Lifeless Mess
Sony’s spider-man adjacent universe continues with ‘madame web’, yet another messy, empty attempt at creating an extended universe worth getting invested in.
Madame Web centers on a paramedic named Cassandra (Dakota Johnson), who develops psychic abilities after a near fatal accident and must protect three girls being targeted by a sinister man named Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim). With the recent failure that was Morbius, Sony needed a win for their extended universe, but unfortunately this origin story is another step in the wrong direction.
It’s clear from the outset that the film is trying to embrace the simple, nostalgic feel of comic book films from the early 2000s. However, the only elements that its able to emulate are the ones that caused many of those films to receive significant backlash. With a cast that includes talent like Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and Adam Scott, coupled with the lore associated with the character from the comics, this could’ve been a highly compelling origin story, but this talent and potential are completely wasted.
Johnson, having proved her prowess in films like A Bigger Splash, Suspiria, and Cha Cha Real Smooth, seems completely uninterested in the material. Frankly, it’s hard to blame her when the material is this poorly written, especially the dialogue. As a result, her performance comes across as largely monotone and lifeless, not exactly making for an emotionally appealing protagonist. Sweeney doesn’t fare much better, relegated to a thankless role as an innocent young girl destined for a higher purpose, her attire only making the character come across as more of a caricature than a three-dimensional heroine. Scott is the only actor who makes it out of the film unscathed, delivering the only believable performance as Cassandra’s best friend, Ben Parker. However, he feels more like a plot device and tether to another beloved comic book character.
What’s meant to be the beating heart of the film is the dynamic between Cassandra and the three young girls she aims to protect, but their chemistry feels entirely forced and the exchanges between them don’t feel remotely natural or realistic. The girls all come across as two-dimensional, their backstories barely fleshed out or delved into. Simply put, this group isn’t an entertaining one to watch, their evolution from prickly strangers to essentially family feeling unearned to say the least.
Making matters worse is the lack of action in the film, which draws far too much attention to how bland and unfortunately boring the story is. The action, when it’s actually there, is poorly orchestrated and directed, the camerawork dizzying and visually confusing. While it’s occasionally fun to see how Cassandra’s abilities work from a visual standpoint, she doesn’t do much with them that enhances the story or those action sequences. The film has little to no narrative momentum, feeling sluggish and meandering throughout as characters continue to make baffling decisions that make difficult hard to root for.
However, the glaring flaw of the film is its antagonist Ezekiel Sims, who after having daily visions of his demise at the hands of these three young girls, aims to kill them to prevent his fate. Not only is the material associated with the character extremely uninteresting and cliché, but Rahim’s performance is wooden and even unintentionally funny. He never feels like much of a threat, especially when Cassandra and the girls she’s protecting are able to evade him so easily. His character’s backstory, especially how he connects to Cassandra’s mother, had potential to weave into the story nicely, but is simply wasted. As soon as he leaves the screen, the viewer will forget he was even there, making for one of Marvel’s worst villains to date.
With three movies under its belt and another on the way later this year with Kraven The Hunter, Sony is trying desperately to craft an extended universe that will excite comic book fans. Unfortunately, with films like Madame Web, their universe not only doesn’t feel remotely connected or like it’s building to anything, but it hasn’t established a roster of characters worth investing in either. While the film tries to tease a bright future for Cassandra and the spider-women, this universe feels like a tangled, messy web that should be left in peace.