Madame Web, 2024.
Directed by S.J. Clarkson.
Starring Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, Zosia Mamet, José María Yázpik, Kerry Bishé, Kathy-Ann Hart, and Josh Drennen.
SYNOPSIS:
Cassandra Webb develops the power to see the future. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women bound for powerful destinies, if they can all survive a deadly present.
Her déjà vu senses are tingling! Set in 2003, following a perilous incident on the job as a paramedic, Cassandra Webb’s (a disappointingly bland Dakota Johnson) unique spider powers are awakened, courtesy of her mom, who died during childbirth while researching special insects in the Peruvian Amazon with the intent to cure diseases.
Directed by S.J. Clarkson (and a crowded screenwriting room consisting of herself, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker), Madame Web has the right self-contained origin story approach in that if the rules of the ability don’t make immediate sense to the viewer or the protagonist, part of the fun should be discovering and coming to understand those ins and outs.
In this case, the superpower is a gift that allows Cassandra brief glimpses of the future, sometimes in the form of déjà vu. There is no clear rhyme or reason as to why these instances of déjà vu happen, what triggers time to jump back, how long they last, or how she comes to harness and control any of this. What this means is that much of the action set pieces here quickly become about sitting back and letting whatever happens happen without questioning anything.
At a certain point, it seems to cease being déjà vu altogether and just becomes an ability to see a short window into the future, allowing the set pieces in the back half of the film to come off slightly more consistent and reasonable within the rules of this universe.
However, there are two major frustrations with all of this, the first being that Madame Web is so devoid of personality, compelling stakes, threatening urgency, and multidimensional characters that, again, one remains passive and disinterested in everything occurring on screen. In theory, the story should be engaging to a degree, as it mostly does away with excessive CGI bombast to tell a more grounded tale of a woman learning what these powers are and attempting to use them responsibly out of the inherent goodness within her by saving three teenage girls from a targeted murder attempt on New York City public transportation.
What I’m about to say could be considered a spoiler, and hell if I know, considering the awkward screenplay that gradually reveals information about the three girls as if viewers are already supposed to know about these connections and their future superhero alter egos, so here goes: they are Sydney Sweeney’s Julia Carpenter, Isabela Merced’s Anya Corazon, and Celeste O’Connor’s Mattie Franklin.
Now, most of us are used to contrived storytelling as a means to get the narrative off the ground or spark a connection between key characters, but Madame Web takes this to a ridiculous level with heaps of exposition, explaining how all three of these girls have no family or anyone to go to for protection, and others solely up to Cassandra to keep them alive.
As for why these three teenage girls are wanted dead, that comes down to a vision by tech-savvy, filthy, Spider-suited/superpowered, rich criminal Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), where the three of them are killing him while dressed as superheroes in the future. So not only is Madame Web a rather dull origin story for Cassandra, but it’s also trying to set up a presumed sequel for these heroes. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything interesting to say about them either; Anya and Mattie are more extroverted and quick to run off, assuming that when Cassandra temporarily leaves them in the woods to go do some investigating, they are abandoned. Julia is more introverted and trusting but succumbs to peer pressure anyway to run off, act out, and draw attention (Ezekiel has also murdered his way into stealing technology that allows for easy tracking.)
This does pave the way for one of the more mildly exciting action sequences, where Cassandra has to once again save them from being killed, this time inside a diner blessing Britney Spears’ Toxic, working with her déjà vu and adapting to the situation to figure out how to accomplish this while keeping them alive. These are solid ideas for action sequences, but the filmmaking never fully takes advantage of the déjà vu aspect, and the fighting typically stops as fast as it begins.
There is a lack of momentum in the combat, choppy editing, and practically no thrills. It quickly becomes the second major problem with the film, causing one to wonder if Madame Web would have worked better as a video game since, at least there, this deja vu superpower would have been built into the core philosophy of gaming as a medium, which is to try difficult encounters over and over until identifying and mastering the best approach.
Regarding Sony’s recent disastrous track record with any Spider-Man adjacent film not made alongside Marvel Studios, Madame Web is far from disgracefully bad. It is to be admired that it wants to be less of a superhero film and more of a survival thriller about protecting three teenage girls from a villainous knockoff of Spider-Man, but it has no energy or exciting characters. When there are special effects, such as whenever the film heads to the Peruvian Amazon, the CGI does, however, look blurry and bad.
The script is also filled with dreadful line readings and clumsy instances of Cassandra talking to herself out loud as if the filmmakers are worried the viewers need the most obvious visual information explained to them. There is a point where Cassandra saves a bird from death by reacting differently following an event of déjà vu, where she literally says, “You survived!” If only the filmmakers could have used déjà vu while shooting to fix everything wrong with Madame Web here.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
