Madame Web (2024) Review

Much has been said about this recent superhero release. Several factors have contributed to its infamy: from superhero fatigue, to its low budget, to the relative obscurity of its main character, the bad reception of previous Sony Spider-Man movies and the fact that it's a superheroine film, and having people to agree with that its always been a tough sell for normative audiences, even nowadays.

Always compared to early two thousands  superhero movies like Elektra (2005) or Catwoman (2004), Madame Web seems like a go-to bad movie of recent times according to reviewers and some audiences but this reputation is highly exaggerated, sure, it looks cheap and unrealistic at times but that's a very shallow complaint considering how most of these movies are just cgi slopfests anyways. At its best, Madame Web is an entertaining and moderately effective story about heroism with a new lens, at its worst, it's a popcorn flick with some silly moments. Nothing too bad for a Hollywood superhero film.

On the subject of heroism, Madame Web opts to leave out any violent battles and its engaging because it never becomes a contest about “who’s the most powerful,” creating a particular situation for its main character, as she only has the gift to see into the future (later on she can be at many places at once) but has zero super-strength, can't climb on walls and doesn't have a spider web of any kind. A very rare concept for a superhero movie, a genre dominated by superstrong guys (and some girls) beating the crap out of a villain. Her heroism comes from giving a sense of direction and inspiring her “adopted daughters” with her motherly instincts (there's even a pregnant lady in the film to drive this theme home, not to mention the mother-daughter link regarding the protagonist) and special foresight. The movie establishes that she is already a woman of support, by having her work as a paramedic, literally saving lives via her abilities rather than combating bad guys or beating people up. 

The selfless female saviour vs the dark egocentric man.

Most of the movie is a rather slow but interesting development of the main character and her journey, meeting the trio of future Spider Girls in a subway sequence that's so well constructed it made me wonder if people had seen the same movie I did. Using the main character's powers it manages to be suspenseful by giving you the repercussions of the potential failure of our heroine first, making the sequence more intense and the fear more palpable. The shots were perfectly selected, the rhythm and build up were solid and it developed swiftly to a satisfying result. There's another similar sequence involving a diner that has a surprising twist. And the climax also utilizes this approach to a much bigger degree, with bigger stakes and bigger spectacle, the only flaw being somewhat shoddy effects but otherwise it is well directed and constructed. 

The character interactions are somewhat believable for this kind of movie, the girls seem somewhat awkward and not very comfortable at first, which makes sense considering that these are teens talking to strangers in an odd situation. However, the girls slowly grow on you and by the end you do feel like you like them enough to see them in action. Perhaps more charisma and some more intimate interactions between the main girls would have been good, its missing more female bonding. A mini-series would have been a wiser choice perhaps. Still, the material isn't wasteful. 

The content and its connotations are perplexing. On one hand, the film is about a female hero using her gifts to guide and help young women into becoming saviors in their own right, facing against a villainous rich white man bent on being all powerful and indestructive, serving his own male ego and ambitions of power, only to be defeated by those he considered a nuisance to get rid off. On the other hand, the heroine isn't a warrior, she mostly escapes and hides, planning strategies that give her the upper hand because she can't fight the villain with her fists. Something that could be considered backwards if you think about it as the filmmakers ideal female superhero tale. However, I don't think the latter one is the case, I think the writers just worked with the concept of the character they were handed over and they did a fine job. 

Water created life and a woman gives birth to our protagonist on water, Madame Web is also sumerged in water for some key scenes. 

Now, considering that this movie was probably butchered by the studio and the reshoots, one has to wonder whether or not there's a great movie hidden in there under all those crazy special effects and derangedly expressive images and weird angles the direction offers us from time to time. Perhaps there's promise in here. Although companies don't treat female superhero movies with respect, even to this day, the unreleased Batgirl film and the rushed (and late) Black Widow movie are prime examples.