Culture news I’ve never seen a film like this! Madame Web is the new Spider-Man and he manages to do worse than Suicide Squad
The MCU made the difficult decision to declutter cinemas in 2024, but not Sony, which released no less than three films from its Spider-Man cinematic universe during the year. The first of them shines the spotlight on an iconic character in the history of Spider-Man. Madame Web weaves her web blindly in dark rooms this February and the return to reality is violent. Being “the worst superhero movie†ever made is one thing, lying (even unconsciously) is another.
Madame Web in a few words
This is the fourth project in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and certainly not the last. 2024 will be the year of the weaver with the summer and then fall releases of Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3. The Japanese firm wishes to capitalize on the lore of Spider-Man, but without him with more or LESS success. The first adventures of the SSU proved to be sluggish, even bloated for some, and never really won over the general public. The Origin Story of Cassandra “Cassie” Webb was the perfect opportunity to start off on a healthy basis.
Madame Web is a superhero film directed by SJ Clarkson and co-written with a trio of writers (Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Claire Parker). The British filmmaker previously cut her teeth on television and SVOD on the series Jessica Jones (Netflix), Succession (HBO) and Orange is the New Black (Netflix). This Marvel feature film (and by extension the Marvel Cinematic Universe) can count on a cast of established actors (Dakota Johnson, Tahar Rahim) and promising young shoots (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Mercer) to represent on the big screen characters born there several decades ago on paper. Here is the official synopsis of Madame Web:
Cassandra Webb, a Manhattan paramedic, develops the power to see the future…and realizes she can use that intuition to change it. Forced to face revelations about her past, she forms a relationship with three young women destined for exceptional destinies… if they manage to survive a deadly present. -Sony Pictures Entertainment
The cast of the film Madame Web:
- Dakota Johnson – Cassandra “Cassie” Webb / Madame Web
- Sydney Sweeney – Julia Cornwall / Spider-Woman
- Isabela Mercer – Anya Corazon / Spider-Girl
- Celeste O’Connor – Mattie Franklin / Spider-Woman
- Tahar Rahim – Ezekiel Sims
- Adam Scott – Ben Parker
- Emma Roberts – Mary Parker
Madame Web has been screened in cinemas in France since February 14, 2024.
“I wasn’t expecting anything and I’m still disappointed”
I’m not going to lie to you. The broadcast of the first trailer for Madame Web had me rather excited without convincing me 100% of the legitimacy and usefulness of a “Spider-Man” universe deprived of its main attraction: Spider-Man. However, with the exception of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which I was completely distraught by, I did not have an unpleasant time watching Venom and Morbius. I left the room as I entered it, which may leave something to be desired, I am well aware. In 2024, the fourth film in the saga finally managed to make me feel something in front of the SSUto transcend it… but in the worst way.
Madame Web is not the film presented in the trailers. It is not this superheroic adventure featuring with virtuosity a quartet of meta-humans all linked to Spider-Man, and even less the induction of a character which alone justifies the existence of Sony’s Spider- Man Universe (his name is in the title). Where have the three long-term “teased” Spider-Womans gone? Only the “pre-superpowers” versions exist on screen. With the exception of two poor choppy and cheesy sequences to the last degree, the superheroines are absent from the film. We then have to settle for three teenage girls who are uncomfortable in their skin and quick to disobey.
Even Cassandra Webb struggles to do well. The protagonist is only the shadow of the superheroine from the comic books. And it is not the sequences conducive to epileptic seizures supposed to represent his powers of clairvoyance and spatio-temporal duplicity which will save Sony’s creation. In addition, the writers favored the Origin Story track, which in my opinion is a mistake. Madame Web is a complex character who flourishes in the role of mentor and strategist, with entire sections of her persona zapped during 90 minutes (over 2 hours).
What about Spider-Man? Is he finally introduced into his own universe? Yes and no ! It is complicated. In fact, Mary Parker does give birth to her son in Madame Web, but… Peter Parker is never really mentioned, even if all the spectators know full well that the baby held by Uncle Ben’s sister is none other than the future Spider-Man. It’s crazy to what extent Sony is getting entangled (probably due to legal issues with Disney) in a cinematic lore that is having the greatest difficulty in the world maintaining a certain balance. A shame for Spider-Man. At the same time, a Spider-Verse deprived of its reason for being did not represent anything good!
If only Madame Web was entertaining to the point of making us forget the Teen Movie-esque narrative slump in which the characters continually flounder. But no ! The film offers too few memorable action sequences to keep viewers’ attention. I was bored by this superhero film even though I’m generally a good audience. And what about the performances of Dakota Johnson and Tahar Rahim? They have all the difficulty in the world finding the slightest inspiration. To thwart the French actor of A Prophet so much is an achievement. However, the Spider-Woman trio proves endearing (sometimes irritating), but adds nothing to the film, other than justifying the intervention of Cassandra Webb.
Madame Web has the merit of existing and proves that excellent source material combined with good actors does not necessarily make a good film. Marvel continues its descent into hell in 2024 without panache!