On February 14, Sony released a new and highly anticipated superhero film, Madame Web, adding on yet another movie to their Spider-Man Universe collection. However, unlike the original Madame Web comic, which closely alludes to past and future Spider-Man films, this standalone movie does not include an explicit correlation.
Background
In recent years, Sony has pushed out several movies in their Spider-Man collection because of a licensing deal with Sony and Marvel which granted them film rights to some characters in the Marvel universe. They aim to push out multiple corresponding movies as a way of leveraging the Spider-Man films.
However, Sony’s Spider-Man collection has a poor reputation, as most of their films, including Madame Web, are widely criticized and humorized. Madame Web followed a similar path and received harsh criticism. Most reviews condemned the film’s lack of structure, script, and overall storyline.
Overview and comparisons to the comic
Like most film recreations, the movie differs from the comic by a pretty large margin. For instance, the main character, Cassandra Webb, is a blind, elderly lady in the comics, but in the movie, she is played by a younger actor with standard vision. The comics also portray Webb as an acquaintance to Spiderman but the movie never picks up on that connection.
Now, with that being said, the movie version of Madame Web has quite a standard superhero narrative. Cassandra Webb, known as Madame Web, is born with hidden clairvoyant abilities, and as the film progresses, she grows to hone her power. Following this discovery, she embarks on a journey to protect three special teenage girls from the sole villain, Ezekiel.
There are quite a few famous actors in the movie, including Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeny, Isabela Merced, and Emma Roberts. However, even the experienced actors could not save the movie. The overall storyline of the movie is quite one-dimensional and simple. There is also only one central villain in the whole film, which makes the movie dull.
Verdict
According to their box office records, Madame Web has been doing quite poorly, only accumulating $6.05 million on its opening day. Yet again, Sony’s Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven to be a disappointment, and they will likely find it difficult to redeem themselves.
For being a suspense thriller movie, there are not many tense or exciting scenes that stand out. The movie also lacks an engaging script, as most of the dialogue gets tiresome and redundant at times.
Overall, Madame Web is an expectedly disappointing movie to say the least. Though there are some interesting parts, such as when Cassandra Webb discovered her powers, the plot becomes boring since there are no twists or turns that make the movie compelling to watch.
