80 million dollars.
This is how much was spent on one of the latest movies in Sony Pictures Spider-Man Universe—Madame Web. The film derives from one of Marvel’s comic series, the Madame Webcomic.
The average budget of a Marvel movie is around 219 million dollars, so while the budget of Madame Web was significantly lower than most, I thought the cinematography was not much better than an at-home-crafted YouTube video. The audio was out of sync and the editing felt very choppy.
I usually thoroughly enjoy most movies that are associated with Marvel, and while this film did keep me relatively hooked, it overall had me very disappointed due to its shallow storyline, rushed ending, subpar acting, and poorly written script.
Madame Web is a superhero film directed by S.J. Clarkson. It stars Dakota Johnson as Madame Web alongside Sydney Sweeney as Julia Carpenter, Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon, and Celeste O’Conner as Mattie Franklin.
The main character Cassandra (Madame Web) discovers she has a special power—she can see into the future— after she has a near-death experience. She got these powers because while her mother Constance was pregnant with her she got bit by a spider. Ezekiel—basically the bad version of Spider-Man—wants to kill three girls that he believes will kill him in the future. Cassandra helps the girls fight against him.
The plot felt very shallow, and I kept waiting for something to… happen. It did not feel like a superhero movie, but rather an awkward soap opera. I had high expectations for the movie as it has many talented actors in it, but their acting was mediocre at best. The script they were given did not help though as many of the lines were superficial and had no depth at all.
Another failure in the film was the villain, Ezekiel Sims (played by Tahar Rahim). His attempts to “kill” seemed very forced, and like he was not trying at all. His motives were also boring, and overall he was not a good character in the movie.
The CGI felt very unprofessional and cartoonish and did not live up to the standards of previous Marvel movies. Along with this, it was very cliche, and the plot had some major holes in it.
There were some things I did enjoy though. The time period of the movie is set before Peter Parker is born, but they do still connect it to the Spider-Man Universe. One of Cassandra’s close friends is Ben Parker—played by Adam Scott—, who of course is Peter’s uncle. They also show Mary Parker—played by Emma Roberts—who is Ben’s sister-in-law, and in the future will be the mother of Peter.
Considering the budget, cast, and directors, I think this movie had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in various different facets of the film, and it did not live up to its potential whatsoever. Receiving a shocking score of 12 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it is clear that the public also found this film to be a regrettable addition to the Spider-Man universe.
Overall, it was a regretful spinoff of Spider-Man, and I would not recommend it to anyone.
