'Madame Web': A Catastrophic Misstep in the Superhero Genre

I knew going into Madame Web that the movie had received nothing but negative reviews since its Valentine's Day release in a few select international markets. Critics and moviegoers had called it everything from a "shameful misstep" to "the worst movie ever made about comic books." However, I thought to myself, "How bad can a movie get?" and decided not to let clichés get in the way of my assessment of the fourth entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU).

After seeing it, I can confidently state that Madame Web is not as horrible as others have said. It's a whole lot worse. To put it mildly, the film is a jumbled mess from beginning to end. It lacks humor and bite, features some of the most cheesy lines ever seen on screen, and is unquestionably another terrible comic book adaptation to join the ranks of others like Morbius and Catwoman.


Given that Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless are the writers of Morbius and Madame Web, this should come as no surprise. Madame Web is a dull, cringe-worthy picture that lacks direction and vision, is clumsily made, and seems to have been designed only as a heartless money grab.

The film is an origin narrative and has the longest duration of any SSU production. Paramedic Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) of New York unexpectedly discovers she has clairvoyant abilities. Her visions, which transport her back in time, force her to set out on a quest to protect the futures of three young ladies (Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O'Connor, and Isabela Merced) from a perilous foe (Tahar Rahim).

Madame Web, which easily falls into the category of dreary, over-the-top movies, is a prime example of the severe weariness that has permeated the superhero genre. It is very cheesy and clichéd. Director S.J. Clarkson, cinematographer Maura Fiore, and editor Leigh Folsom strive to create a pacy visual maze to reflect the maze of disorganized ideas running through Cassandra's/Madame Web's head, but the result is a terribly shot and edited film. The end effect is akin to a train crash, drawing the audience farther and further into a pitch-black chasm where a dull storyline vies with lifeless cardboard cutout people and circumstances that are both awkward and unintelligible. This is the lowest kind of superhero cinema, and it's not even clever or self-aware enough to be considered campy entertainment.

The movie is also incredibly explanatory, with almost all of the characters using significant screen time to discuss their murky pasts, existential problems, and unmet ambitions. The most disconcerting aspect of this movie is the odd Pepsi commercial placement, when the major beverage company appears in the most unlikely locations.

The plot of Madame Web is half-baked, and many of its parts are inadvertently humorous. Everything moves at a dizzying pace, as part of the strategy that throws everything at the viewer so that one hardly has time to ponder. The movie has a strong feminine/teenage vibe, but it doesn't do much with it.

The picture is further hindered by Dakota Johnson's lifeless performance, which falls in between "50 shades" of mediocrity. Similarly, Tahar Rahim, who was really captivating in Netflix's The Serpent as Charles Sobhraj, turns out to be hilariously awful in this movie. Emma Roberts, who portrays Mary Parker, Peter Parker's future mother, as Spider-Man, is the only one who survives this dreadful exercise with any kind of dignity.

In summary, Madame Web is a perfect example of the problems with mainstream superhero movies: they tend to be motivated more by franchise concerns and corporate requirements than by character and plot development. Iron Man's death in Avengers: End Game marked the end of the superhero genre for many of us. With a few exceptions, everything that came after has only made the pain worse. At the top of the list is Madame Web.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.