With the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the idea of what a comic book movie is has become crystallized in the minds of many. The formula that most MCU films has established has made it more difficult for other films to break from convention, and many of the pre-Iron Man efforts to adapt Marvel properties are looked at as failures or are forgotten to time completely. The first two Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man films are notable exceptions, as they were major critical and commercial hits at the time, and are still beloved by many to this day. The success of these films prompted Sony Pictures to capitalize off of them, and make more films within the Spider-Verse. Despite sounding like a good idea on paper, the franchise has had a lot of highs and lows over the years. While the animated Spider-Verse films and the Tom Holland starring trilogy have been well-received, the same can't be said for other adaptations of Spider-Man or Spider-Man adjacent characters. The films garnered mixed reviews at best, and didn't leave much of an impact on audiences. It appeared that Sony had reached a new low with 2022's Morbius, which was reviled by fans and critics alike. And with the release of their latest effort, Madame Web, it looks like the franchise isn't going to be getting much better any time soon. With baffling creative choices and amateur-level filmmaking, this film recalls the nadir of 2000s era comic book films, and foretells a grim future for Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) is a hardened young woman working as a paramedic in New York City. After having a near death experience, she begins to see visions of the future. These visions involve three teenage girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O'Connor) who are being hunted down by the evil Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim). Cassandra soon finds that Sims is connected to her past, as "he was in the Amazon with her mom when she was researching spiders right before she died" (a much memed line from the trailer that doesn't even appear in the film). Cassandra then leaps into action to protect the young girls, and to take down Sims once and for all.
It's not like I had high hopes for this film, but I was at least hoping it would at least be a "so bad it's good" type of film instead of just plain bad. It starts off fine, even with its quick editing and aggressive zooms, but once we get to Cassandra trying to understand her newfound psychic abilities, it starts to lose steam. Much of the film's second act drags on, as a lot of time in this section is devoted to Cassandra and the three younger characters hiding out from the villain, and it gets boring rather quickly. It picks up a smidge from the film's final battle sequence to the end, but at that point, it is too little, too late. If the film had maintained the energy it has at the beginning or at the end, it would likely have been all the better for it, but the middle tanks any potential this film had to be fun or remotely entertaining. This film could have easily been a middle-of-the-road comic book film or a campy, over-the-top one, but it doesn't have enough energy to pull either one of these off.
Beyond this, the filmmaking itself is severely lacking. The editing in certain moments is so choppy that you can barely tell what is going on, the camerawork is lazy, and often undercuts what the film is going for, and the film itself is so unfocused that I have a hard time believing that S.J. Clarkson actually directed this. Not to mention that this film features some of the worst ADR I have ever seen in a major release. Every time the film's villain speaks, it is as if he is being dubbed over by a completely different person, and it doesn't line up with his mouth movements very well, either. I can't help but feel that Sony meddled with this film's production, making the final product far worse in the process. Part of the blame does lie on the creative team, but it is hard for me to believe that this is the film they set out to make. I can see parts of it being in line with their vision, but it feels compromised as a whole.
One might hope that with stars like Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney amongst the cast that the performances might be good, but that's not exactly the case here. As the film's lead, Johnson takes a half-hearted approach to the character that sometimes works but mostly just comes across like she doesn't want to be anywhere near this film. Part of this is just Johnson's general, low-key vibe she normally gives off, but she feels especially checked out in this film. The trio of Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O'Connor is fine, but all three suffer from their respective characters being underwritten. Their sad backstories are handled in the most hamfisted way, and they have very little depth beyond this. Tahar Rahim isn't half-bad necessarily, but it feels like he is doing way too much and the script isn't doing him any favors. As the villain of the film, the character's motivation seems so basic, and Rahim does everything he can to distract from this. From using a strange voice to inexplicably being barefoot, there are certainly interesting things about the performance, but it feels like a mess overall. Adam Scott gives perhaps the one performance of the film I actually liked, but his character feels a bit shoehorned in. Granted, he is important to the overall story the film is trying to tell, but he is treated as more of an afterthought than anything else. If nothing else, I just hope that everyone involved in this film got a nice paycheck, as they are all talented people that deserve much better than what they got here.
Madame Web is a near disaster across the board, with nothing much to offer audiences beyond some questionable creative choices and a bland story. I wish it would have leaned into its campiness a little more, as this would have saved it a little, but it plays things mostly straight which makes it rather tedious. Sony doesn't seem to know what to do with these Spider-Man adjacent characters, and it might be time for them to throw in the towel on expanding the Spider-Verse any further than they already have. Of course, there are still more installments to come that have already been filmed, and are set to come out later this year. But after those are released, it wouldn't surprise me if Sony backs off of the franchise, at least a little bit. As for Madame Web itself, I feel like it will be viewed by many the same way that people view 2004's Catwoman or 2005's Elektra, both of which were female-led comic book films that bombed upon release. It is certainly a major misfire on Sony's part, and one that sadly doesn't have a very bright future ahead of it.