Madame Web

Image credit: cine.com

It should come as no surprise that studios are still scrabbling to get a piece of the Marvel multiverse action. Marvel is now a label that instantly draws an audience, even when the trailers and marketing of the project is not particularly interesting. It’s a real shame then when a character or comic series from the Marvelverse gets picked up excitedly by a crew and then through the filmic process becomes something far below the initial expectations. This is the case with a film I went and saw last night (thank goodness I had free tickets): Madame Web.

Cassie Web (Dakota Johnson) is a paramedic who, after technically dying on the job, comes the realisation that she has the power of foresight. Unsure how to control or what even to do with this power, Cassie sees a vision in which three girls are attached by a man that can crawl, spider-like, on the ceiling. Suddenly Cassie finds herself in charge of protecting these girls who will one day have powers like her and use them to save the world.

This could have been good. The characters are interesting enough to root for, the story is just different enough of a superhero origin story to pique interest, and there are some cool moments for special effects to take the wheel. Let us have a moment of silence for what could have been.

The film looks fine. There are some fun bits where we get to see Cassie’s powers at work, although if you’re unfamiliar with the comic or character in general, it can take a little bit of time to work out what’s actually going on. Ultimately what really brought this film low was the script. I saw this with a friend and they turned to me during the credits and said, ‘I think that script was written by AI’. It’s a very boring and generic script with no flavour to speak of: no salt, sweetness, or even tang. And then there are the ham-fisted references to Spider-Man, which are really, really on the nose. 

And because the script was boring, the performances were boring too. Fair play to the central cast for trying to inject some life into a dead spider, but sometimes there’s just no coming back from lifelessness. I think everyone gave up midway through. Johnson as a reluctant heroine is fine and there is some chemistry between her and the three girls that’s sweet and heartwarming. The villain is a real letdown, quite possibly the most uninteresting villain that I have seen in a superhero movie.

Image credit: imdb

If you have any interest in seeing Madame Web, I would recommend waiting until it comes to a streaming service, it’s certainly not worth the price of a ticket.

Director: S.J Clarkson, 2024

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Jose Maria Yazpik, & Emma Roberts