It’s not Webbin’ Time

 ★ 1/2 out of ★★★★

Madame Web (2024)

Runtime: 116 minutes

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence/action and language.

It might be a coincidence in my schedule to have watched Madame Web after Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire. Despite having drastic differences - one being a "science-fiction" film and this being a "superhero" film - both are pretty much on par with each other in terms of quality and enjoyment (perhaps to a lesser degree for this one) and share a similarity: full of potential and unique ideas, but ultimately wasted.

Amidst the wave of strongly negative reviews that have circulated around the internet and audiences, Madame Web is far from an absolute disaster but still isn't anywhere good. Directed by S.J. Clarkson, writers Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker forget that a narrative is vital to the movie, simply throwing their characters in the same scenarios repetitively until the final act.

Madame Web opens in a Peruvian jungle in 1973. When a pregnant Constance Webb (Kerry Bishé) discovers a spider known to possess healing properties, her partner Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) betrays the team and obtains the spider, fatally shooting Constance in the process. The indigenous people conveniently make their presence obvious by frantically climbing down trees and race to rescue Constance, but she dies after giving birth to her child.

That child, in question, is paramedic Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) in New York, as we learn in present-day 2003. After a near-death experience, following an accident with a toppling car, she gains clairvoyant powers, allowing her to foresee events such as dialogue or people's deaths. She initially dismisses these visions, but confirms its validity after a colleague's death, in which she had seen in her visions.

Ezekiel Sims, however, becomes an extremely one-dimensional villain with superhuman powers, ever since he retrieved the spider. Clairvoyant visions of three spider-women leading to his demise repeatedly haunt him, and he sets on a quest to identify and kill the women before these visions become true. Cassandra Webb, however, witness the women's deaths by Sims in her visions, and repeatedly rescues them from death throughout the film.

When we get to know the three women, who are teenagers Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazón (Isabella Merced) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor), they provide their troubled backstories linked to their families, which are theoretically compelling but lack an emotional connection with the audience. Trauma can severely affect a person and it's difficult to face and overcome it, but that's just a theme Madame Web skims rather than dive deeper into.

Cinematography and editing also play an important part in storytelling. Mauro Fiore, who won the Academy Award for best cinematography in Avatar, captured an immersive experience that took everyone's breath away when it was first released. Something terrible must have struck him on Madame Web's shooting days, as the first quarter of the film is filmed tilted about 15 degrees clockwise, with dizzying 270 degree spins twice every minute. With amateurish zoom-ins and quickfire editing that jumbles our understanding of the plot, many would be left the impression of an unfinished student project.

This inconsistency quickly smoothens as the rest of the film becomes watchable, literally. Madame Web insists on taking a different and earnest approach to the superhero story. Rather than supplying the genre goods, where Cassandra gains powers and fights the villain, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and learns about her past. When she uncovers the reason for her mother's intentional journey to South America, this should be an emotional moment, but it's rendered inert as the film largely avoids exploring Webb's thoughts, struggles and coping with her mother's loss.

While Johnson gives an amusing performance as Webb, the rest of the cast is riddled with clunky dialogue. The lack of direction leads to the mishandling of the cast, resulting in largely unnatural performances. Supporting characters like Webb's coworker Ben Parker (Adam Scott) and his sister-in-law Mary Parker (Emma Roberts) exist in the story without significance and give passable performances.

As the film continued towards its final half, I noticed how Cassandra's visions are always for the convenience of the plot, rather than a superhuman power which can either be triggered anytime or triggers randomly. The ending renders the entire film as a gimmick; Madame Web was actually a set-up for potential sequels where the teenagers gain powers and fight injustice. With this installment, I can confidently say that we won't be needing those sequels anytime soon.