Madame Web – Stuck In An Incoherent Web

When it comes to Marvel film adaptations, there is the MCU or Marvel Cinematic Universe (produced by Marvel Studios) and the Spider-Man Universe (produced by Sony Pictures). History has shown time and time again that the latter, outside of their solo Spider-Man films (co-produced with Marvel Studios), consistently pale in comparison with “Morbius” and the “Venom” franchise receiving mixed to poor reactions critically but still finding success at the box office. The complicated rights issues between both studios continues to create a divide between both universes, however, that gap has begun to narrow as of late. That being said, it could be hard to keep up with it all, especially as pandemics and strikes have disrupted countless productions over the last few years. The next film in the Spider-Man Universe, Madame Web, found itself haphazardly hacked to death as it tries to carve out its own path and justify its existence in the grand scheme. Though it fails at doing both, there are signs of a better film somewhere within its incoherent plot and thin characters. Ultimately, it is the film’s inability find an identity, feeling like multiple films cobbed together into one. Putting Dakota Johnson front and center, she definitely delivers. The rest of the film, not so much. 

Madame Web follows Cassandra Webb (Johnson), a New York City paramedic who, after an accident, develops the power to see the future. Struggling to make sense of it, she stumbles onto three young women (Sweeney, Merced, and O’Connor) who all happen to have targets on their backs based on what they may or may not become in the future. Whether they liked it or not, they were connected, perhaps more than they realized. Trying to evade the advances of the devious Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), a powerful man (with other unexplained powers) with seemingly limitless resources, the key ultimately lied in Cassie’s past. As she continued to learn to harness and grapple with her powers, they presented somewhat of a learning curve. As their cat-and-mouse game went on, he grew increasingly restless but it was only a matter of time until she would get the upper hand on him. Meanwhile, its Spider-Man connection, albeit a tenuous one, is Cassie’s paramedic partner Ben Parker (Adam Scott), a character synonymous with the origin story of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Letting that story take place adjacent to main storyline at a decent distance, it doesn’t get in the way as much as it could have.

Where the film fails above all else is how it simply tries to do too much. As its trailers and various promotional material set up the grand origin story of multiple characters in the Spider-Man universe, in reality, this could not be further from what actually happened. Carrying Cassie, Julia Cornwall (Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Merced), and Mattie Franklin (O’Connor) without having a full grasp of what to do with all of them, the latter three merely tagged along for the majority of the film, only contributing teenage angst to contrast Cassie’s eccentric personality and limited social skills. The theme of thin characters continues with Sims whose foundation is incredibly weak. Serving as a connection between the past and the present, his impact on the story as a whole was minimal at best. Therefore, it provided little reason to care about a story that was already on the predictable side in the first place. The only character arguably immune from the thin character issues is Cassie. She was compelling to watch but the character was written to do so much heavy lifting in trying to navigate through a mess of a story. THAT awkward exposition line aside, she had potential. However, the film’s haphazard attempt to cram in multiple films’ worth of story, instead of focusing on doing one right, sunk that potential.

On a technical level, Madame Web stays true to its 2003 setting for better or worse. Using the same bells and whistles and various flourishes that most audiences have become accustomed to, they are fine but unremarkable while the action is bland. What does stand out is its editing, as the film appeared hacked to death and creating the mess it eventually became in what could only be interpreted as a reaction (or overreaction). Also, the film made a few odd choices to undermine Rahim and Sims. Using ADR to a comical degree as a means to remove him from the film as much as possible without cutting the character out entirely, audiences will become fairly acquainted with the back and/or side of his head. Along those lines, the film’s horrendous script certainly didn’t do anyone any favors in terms of acting, leading to some lines of unintentionally hilarious dialog (most of them unfortunately come from Rahim, who wasn’t given any chance to succeed, as Sims).

Johnson, who is prominently featured across all the film’s promotional material (and is the undeniable star of the press tour), lives up to her top billing. Working through what looked to be a moving target as the film clearly showed signs of a fair share of changes, she persevered and her commitment to Cassie was there in spite of the subpar material she had to work with. Asked to do so much heavy lifting, presumably, to make up for the story’s many deficiencies, she was compelling to watch but she can only do so much. Next, Sweeney, Merced, and O’Connor do nothing more than be present for the proceedings. All saddled with paper thin characters, none rise to the occasion (or were ever given the chance to). The dynamic between the four, foreshadowed in the trailers, also never gets a real chance to shine. The rushed nature of the film makes it come off as forced. Finally, many audiences will be left wondering whatever Rahim was doing as Sims. Drowning in bad material in a film that worked to undermine him at every turn, it was just sad.

At the end of the day, Madame Web is an overly-mangled failure that fails to ever find an identity in the face of competing interests working it into an absolute mess. And for those who didn’t already know, the film has no post-credit scenes.

*still courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment*

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.