TL;DR – It is a film that shows that you can have a great cast and an exciting scenario, but that will still not lead to a coherent narrative that has an impact.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Madame Web Review –

Some of the best work that is happening in the superhero genre is coming out of Sony’s Spider-Man adjacent Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, that strength is found almost entirely in its animated division, and maybe Venom, if I have had a drink or two. Unfortunately, last year’s Morbius showed us that it is also the source of some of the worst films happening in this space. While we don’t reach those depths this week, we do get a movie that was screaming with potential but ended up being wholly lacklustre.

So to set the scene, in 1973, deep in the forests of Peru, a heavily pregnant Constance Webb (Kerry Bishé) and her security partner Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) are looking for a spider whose venom is meant to have potent healing properties. Constance finds the spider but is betrayed by Webb and left for dead. A local tribe rescues her, but they can only save the life of her newborn. In the present of 2003, Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Webb (Dakota Johnson) is now a paramedic, but when a near-death experience rocks her world, there might be more than just some trauma unlocked.

Okay, this is not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but that is not to say there are parts of this film that were not good or at least showed a lot of promise. For one, Dakota Johnson and Adam Scott have fantastic chemistry with each other. You honestly believe that they are deep friends with all the strengths and baggage that comes with that. Also, we will get to the editing, but some of those scene transitions slapped. Finally, the idea of someone seeing the future and playing it as almost déjà vu was an exciting concept, even if they never fully exploited it, bar maybe the train sequence.

However, there are some serious structural issues with this film that it was unfortunately never able to overcome. The first is one of the weakest villains I have seen in a superhero movie before. I am not sure if it was the script, the actor’s performance, or something that happened in post-production with ADR. But whatever the case, bar one moment in the train, which is in the trailer, he was fundamentally useless for the film. There is the depiction of the Indigenous Tribe, which felt like it was from a movie made twenty years ago. Including the scientist who says she believes in science, not legends, even though the local people would have been instrumental in her success. Then there is the bait and switch about what sort of film this is, with a lot of the content that has been teased being just small snippets of a possible future and not entirely how they represent it in the promotional material.

This gives a film that is mostly about running from one non-event to the next non-event. Which is frustrating, because you can see strands of good story here and there, but the focus on the three maybe-Spider-Women diverts the focus from where the film is meant to be going. It also removes the immediacy of the fact of who Ezekiel is to Cassie. For example, the fact that Cassie is a paramedic, especially a paramedic in New York and the time this film is set is a fascinating spot to position your Spider-Person in. Still, it becomes set dressing rather than a core part of who she is. Indeed, the whole-time setting feels like a wasted opportunity, with there being no reason it could not have been set today. I mean, you probably could have still used Brittney Spears’ Toxic. Then there are just the production issues of this being a cut-up mess at times, which makes me feel that there was not enough work done in pre-production before they rushed to shoot.      

In the end, do we recommend Madame Web? Unfortunately, not. There is a lot of talent here, and maybe something went wrong during the production, and this was the best they could salvage. However, it is such a mess that it just flounders instead of even being so bad it is interesting. If you liked Madame Web, we would recommend to you The Marvels.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Madame Web?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Madame Web
Directed by – S. J. Clarkson
Screenplay by – Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Claire Parker & S. J. Clarkson
Story by – Kerem Sanga, Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless
Based on – Marvel Comics
Music by – Johan Söderqvist
Cinematography by – Mauro Fiore
Edited by – Leigh Folsom Boyd
Production/Distribution Companies – Columbia Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, TSG Entertainment & Sony Pictures.
Starring – Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Adam Scott & Emma Roberts with Mike Epps, Kerry Bishé, Zosia Mamet, José María Yazpik, Jill Hennessy, Josh Drennen, Yuma Feldman, Kathy-Ann Hart, Jennifer Ellis, Kris Sidberry & Erica Souza
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: an; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13