Madame Web Review: The Origin Story No One Demanded

Sony’s latest attempt to expand their Spider-Man cinematic universe introduces Madame Web, an obscure character even hardcore comic fans may not recognize. As a clairvoyant elder guiding Spider-Man in the comics, Web seems an unlikely choice to anchor her own film. Yet here we are, with Dakota Johnson playing a young, non-powered version who sees flashes of the future after a near-death experience.

She soon finds herself protecting three teenage girls from a villain named Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) who wants to prevent his own prophesied death at their hands once they obtain spider powers. So in theory, this provides an origin story for future Spider-Women while connecting to the broader Marvel canon. Unfortunately, the execution leaves much to be desired. The performances feel strangely subdued, the dialogue overly explanatory, and the visuals chaotically dull.

None of the potentially interesting thematic threads around family or destiny get adequately developed either. While moments of oddball humor and a game cast shine through occasionally, the film lacks both stylish action and genuine heart. Ultimately Madame Web spins an uneven web that probably won’t satisfy loyal fans or newcomers, serving more as a Trojan Horse set-up for sequels than a satisfying adventure on its own.

A Jumbled Journey Through Time

Madame Web quickly establishes paramedic Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson) as our protagonist, though her ties to the title character remain hazy. We open with a 1973 prologue showing her pregnant mother Constance (Kerry Bishé) searching for a healing spider in the Amazon jungle. Her guide Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) betrays her, but a magical spider tribe saves Cassie before Constance dies. Jump to 2003 New York, where a bridge accident activates Cassie’s newfound ability to see short glimpses of the future after her near-death experience.

Cassie soon foresees a train attack targeting three teenage girls – sullen rebel Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor), shy honors student Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), and bright but isolated Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced). Our heroine rescues them from the assault, recognizing their would-be killer as her mother’s old associate Ezekiel. Haunted by a recurring nightmare of the girls killing him as adult superheroes, Ezekiel now seeks to eliminate that threat.

Reluctantly teaming up with the teens while trying to evade Ezekiel’s high-tech surveillance, Cassie puzzlingly develops almost no spider-powers of her own. Neither do the girls, though they bond over shared feelings of abandonment. Mostly they engage in lightly comic banter while Cassie ferries them to safety in her ambulance or the occasional stolen vehicle. Meanwhile Ezekiel murmurs exposition about his tragic past, when we’re not watching Cassie experience more temporal premonitions rendered via visual effects.

The story builds to a pyrotechnic confrontation back at the bridge, as Cassie finally embraces her role as protector before the girls set off on their own. The details behind Madame Web herself remain cloudy, but the film seeds future tales of costumed heroics for its unwilling Spider-Women in waiting.

Missed Opportunities for a Talented Cast

Considering the compelling performers involved, it’s surprising how flat most of the acting feels in Madame Web. Dakota Johnson seems perfectly cast as the sardonic, socially awkward Cassie Webb, bringing her knack for deadpan comedy to the reluctant heroine role. Yet she lacks the requisite awe and urgency once the fantastical plot kicks into high gear. Johnson mostly breezes through reacting to her jarring visions and trying to protect her young charges with the same wry indifference. A genuinely grounded performance gets lost in the campy superhero shuffle.

The trio of Isabela Merced, Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O’Connor also boast impressive résumés, but they’re limited to playing archetypal teen characters without much dimension. Sweeney leans into her character’s insecurity, while Merced and O’Connor bring brief moments of witty rapport with Johnson that suggest comic possibilities left unexplored. As central villain Ezekiel Sims, the intense Tahar Rahim seems uncharacteristically adrift, strangling exposition with off-puttingly stilted line readings that fail to lend complexity.

With more well-drawn roles and direction geared toward grounding this universe, the talent involved might have brought some heart to equal the surface-level spectacle. As is, only Adam Scott conjures real personality as Cassie’s paramedic partner, sharing playful chemistry with Johnson. But like the cast overall, his character remains peripheral at best. For all its expansive myth-building, Madame Web wastes its human elements.

Dynamic Imagery Undercut by Uninspired Storytelling

Given her background directing episodes of fast-paced TV like Jessica Jones and Succession, S.J. Clarkson seems a fitting choice to helm the kinetic world of Madame Web. She brings some visual panache to rendering Cassie’s disorienting clairvoyant visions, using practical effects and manipulated camera angles to embed us in her fragmented point of view.

The action scenes also move with propulsive energy at times, including Cassie commandeering various vehicles with paramedic precision. Yet any sequences meant to showcase Cassie’s burgeoning abilities lack adequate build-up, failing to establish clear rules orconsistent aesthetics for her powers. The film’s emotional beats similarly ring hollow, unsupported by Clarkson’s slick but shallow approach.

And while the period setting conjures nostalgia, it feels disconnected from any larger cinematic timeline. For all its dynamic imagery, Madame Web rarely excites on a narrative level under Clarkson’s workmanlike guidance. She brings professional polish but not enough heart, resulting in a visually busy film where both characters and story get lost in the shuffle.

Unfulfilled Potential for emotionally Resonant Storytelling

While rarely the prime focus of superhero stories, Madame Web touches on meaningful themes around family, connection, and embracing one’s destiny that resonate beyond caped crusading. Cassie must confront the lingering anger and abandonment issues stemming from her mother’s death in childbirth.

The three girls she protects bond through their own emotional isolation from parental figures. And all four slowly discover their latent heroic potentials entwined with this spider-powered lineage. These story seeds hold promise to explore the deeper reasons behind estrangement and how new forms of family can heal those wounds over time. But the film only gestures superficially towards these ideas in scattered bits of dialogue.

None of the central relationships earn adequately affecting development given the continual interruptions for flashy set pieces. We get the message about stepping up to greatness, but no reason to truly invest in these characters’ transformations. For all its multiversal aspirations, Madame Web rarely conjures the heart or depth to satisfyingly ground its broader mythology.

A Cynical Bridge to Sony’s Spider-Verse

As the latest attempt by Sony to leverage their rights to Spider-Man adjacent characters, Madame Web conspicuously aims to engineer connections to past and future films about wall-crawlers and Spider-Women. The inclusion of Ben Parker as Cassie’s ambulance partner blatantly shouts out Peter Parker’s beloved Uncle, while repeated references to the missing Richard Parker beat viewers over the head with his dad’s importance. The pregnant Mary Parker also appears in trivial scenes better left on the cutting room floor.

Meanwhile the film introduces future Spider-Women in Anya, Julia and Mattie, complete with a glimpse at their costumed crusader personas sure to appeal to comic fans. Yet it fails to grant any of them actual powers, instead merely teasing spinoff potential down the line. This makes the entire film feel like an overly calculated, cynically corporatized maneuver to inflate Sony’s own spider-centric cinematic universe under the Marvel umbrella.

Unlike the organic crossovers of the MCU’s best event films, these clumsy winks and nods serve little narrative purpose beyond franchise building. They distract more than deepen, emphasizing studio ambitions over coherent world expansion. Madame Web ultimately plays like a glorified trailer reel for future sequels no one asked for, predicated less on its own merits than on the commercial calculus of IP mining and cinematic universes dictated from boardroom high above.

Glaring Weaknesses Undercut Occasional Bright Spots

For all its multiversal ambitions, Madame Web continuously undermines itself through lackluster storytelling and emotional disconnect. The confusing timeline does little coherent worldbuilding while most characters come across as thinly sketched archetypes. Key relationships and transforms lack adequate development, failing to make this team of reluctant heroes feel like an organic found family. Even the rules of Cassie’s powers stay muddled, sapping stakes and excitement.

Not helping matters is a pervasive blandness afflicting both plot and performances. Scenes meant to convey high-spirited rapport play oddly stale, while moments primed for awe come off indifferent. And lifeless line readings persistently land with a dull thud. Between its enervating pace, cardboard characters and anemic atmosphere, Madame Web elicits more yawns than cheers.

That said, a few bright spots emerge amidst the dreary proceedings. Dakota Johnson brings wry comedic timing that almost overrides the robotic dialogue. Dynamic visuals render Cassie’s disjointed visions arrestingly, even if they lack dramatic weight. By the overwrought climax, the seeds exist for these actors to become a charismatic Spider-Women squad given richer material. And while clearly mandated by corporate directive rather than organic narrative, the connections to a broader super-powered tapestry hold imaginative promise.

If only the film could spin a more compelling adventure for this current crop of talent rather than just teasing downstream prospects. As is, Madame Web entangles itself in an unsatisfying web.

An Unfulfilling Detour for the Spider-Verse

For all its ties to Marvel’s Spider-Man empire, Madame Web unfortunately bears little resemblance to the thrilling, heartfelt adventures general audiences have come to expect. Essentially a Trojan Horse origin story for future sequels no one asked for, this cynical spinoff lacks both human stakes and blockbuster spectacle. Uneven pacing, clumsy exposition, and flat performances further undermine any glimmers of promise.

Leads Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney give the film its sole sparks, hinting at lively rapport left sadly unmined. Visually the movie conjures some psychedelic style, especially depicting Cassie’s fragmented visions of the future. Yet narratively it remains an uninspired mess failing to spin either compelling characters or well-constructed set pieces. Madame Web ultimately plays like a glorified trailer reel desperate to inflate Sony’s own spider-centric cinematic universe.

For all its gestures at destiny and found family, the film itself feels destined for obscurity. Neither satisfying self-contained story nor effective franchise launcher, this misguided misfire deserves to get caught in the forgotten corners of Marvel’s messy multimedia web. Sony may still envision sequels starring its lackluster Spider-Women, but nothing here warrants revisiting this universe.

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