Sony’s pity attempt at expanding the Spiderverse
As much as we love Dakota Johnson, even her wit and dry humour cannot save a mediocre film with product placement that runs for far too long. Such is the case with Sony’s new collaboration with Marvel Comics as they add a new story and characters to the Spider-Man Universe (also known as the Spiderverse).
With the downfall of the MCU following Avengers: Endgame, the only character that fans still loved was Spider-Man but things are not looking very good for the friendly neighbourhood hero.
Looks like Sony’s attempt to expand the Spiderverse after the success of Venom and the Spider-Man animated movie series is not getting any favourable reviews online. Madame Web is a 116-minute suspense thriller that narrates the story of Cassandra “Cassie” Webb, a local paramedic who possesses the power of clairvoyance which makes her the superhero we all know as Madame Web.
The film takes a look back at the Spider Women that existed before Spider-Man – Peter Parker was born and explores the connection between Madame Web and Peter through Ben Parer. While the movie is being bashed all over the internet, Madame Web is not half as bad as film critics are making it seem. The first half of Madame Web is well-executed and fun to look at.
We see Cassie’s struggle to emote due to her lack of empathy from being raised as an orphan. Dakota Johnson does an impressive job as Cassie and we see her try to overcome her internal conflict when she takes on the responsibility of three teenage girls and steps in to protect them from the imminent threat – Ezekiel Sims.
The girls – Sydney Sweeney (as Julia Cornwall), Isabela Merced (as Anya Corazon) and Celeste O’Connor (as Mattie Franklin) just exist instead of making their presence impactful. It is clear that Sony initially hoped to expand the Madame Web story with more movies because the project has big names associated with it.
However, the second half sets the film and the potential movies to come in this universe up for failure. There is a lack of motive in Ezekiel’s quest which makes him an unworthy villain, something that hasn’t been the case for other MCU villains over the many years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story looks half-baked and the final battle sequence is a long-running advertisement for Pepsi-Cola.
Fans have dropped all expectations with the MCU and have already disowned the Dakota Johnson starrer Madame Web after the disaster that was Morbius. Aside from its poor promotional campaign, Madame Web fails to use the fact that popular actors like Emma Roberts and Adam Scott also star in the film.
Fans clearly would have enjoyed some more of Madame Web’s connection with Peter Parker as opposed to the piss-poor fight sequences that are badly executed. The future of Madame Web’s inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unclear but we can be sure that the film is Sony’s pity attempt at expanding the Spider-Verse.
Read More: Madame Web Ending Explained
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Verdict - 5.5/10
5.5/10