In the ever-expanding realm of superhero movies, even the initial fan reactions couldn't save Marvel and Sony's latest venture, Madame Web, from facing the harsh critiques of professional critics. Let's delve into the unveiled critic reviews and understand why this Spider-Man spinoff has landed in troubled waters.
From the moment the first reactions surfaced on fan sites, it was evident that Madame Web was facing challenges. Now, as the official critic reviews emerge, the situation seems even more precarious for this superhero installment.
Helmed by director S.J. Clarkson (known for The Defenders), Madame Web features Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) as a New York paramedic endowed with psychic abilities. The creative team includes writers Clarkson, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker. While Dakota Johnson manages to escape much of the criticism, the same cannot be said for other aspects of the film.
Madame Web is the latest victim of what appears to be superhero movie fatigue coupled with genuine disappointment in the film's execution. The critiques point to the narrative, direction, and overall handling of the superhero genre as contributors to the film's negative reception.
Adding to the woes, Madame Web hits theaters merely two months after The Marvels, which became the lowest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe title to date. The industry is witnessing a clash of blockbuster fatigue and a noticeable decline in the quality of superhero films.
With The Marvels earning just $206 million, Madame Web faces the daunting task of possibly opening even lower. Falling under the Sony umbrella, the film's financial prospects are further scrutinized in the context of recent industry trends.
“It is an airless and stilted endeavor driven by a mechanical screenplay … Its lack of imagination would be astounding if it wasn’t so expected … The film operates on a need-to-know basis, forcing people to explain themselves through inelegantly breathless exposition.”
The Daily Beast had extremely harsh words for the movie:
“… a torturous saga that haplessly spins about in circles trying to fashion a competent tone or coherent action sequence. No matter its heroine’s clairvoyant super-powers, it’s a debacle incapable of seeing — and thus avoiding — its every subsequent misstep … director S.J. Clarkson stages it with all the grace of a runaway train, her snap zooms, whiplash cinematography, canted angles, and overly theatrical lighting turning this prologue embarrassingly comical … full of bad dialogue delivered badly by talented men and women stuck with crummy material and equally lousy stewardship … Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is now completely lifeless — and in no need of resuscitation.”
“Madame Web isn’t as bad as its somewhat botched promotional campaign might suggest. It is, in fact, way worse. A genuine Chernobyl-level disaster that seems to get exponentially more radioactive as it goes along, this detour to one of the dustier corners of Marvel’s content farm is a dead-end from start to finish. It is the Cats: The Movie of superhero movies. Not a single decision seems of sound mind. Not a single performance feels in sync with the material. Not a single line reading feels as if it hasn’t somehow been magically auto-tuned to subtract emotion and/or inflection. The sole amazing factor of this Spider-spinoff is that someone, somewhere signed off on actually releasing it … a Showgirls of comic-book cinema.”