“madame webis a movie about an alternate Spider-Man universe, directed by SJ Clarkson, and released on Valentine's Day. The film features cheesy dialogue, over-the-top character tropes, and questionable CGI, but it also showcases girl power, an empowering soundtrack, and a strong performance from Dakota Johnson.
Cathy Webb, played by Johnson, is the main character in this movie. The film begins with a flashback to her 1973 Peru, where the audience meets a pregnant Constance, Cassie's mother. She is searching for a rare spider whose venom she believes has unique healing properties.
Constance, played by Kelly Bish, is accompanied by Ezekiel Sims, played by Tahar Rahim, but Constance betrays her when he discovers the elusive spider. Ezekiel steals her spider from Constance and shoots her. The researcher is found near death by an indigenous tribe known in local legend as “Las Aranas'' or “Spider People.''
The Spider People scoop up Constance and run through the trees at super speed.twilightmovie.
Constance is bitten by one of the spiders before dying and gives birth to Cathy.
The film then moves to 2003, where Cassie is working as an EMT in New York City. How she immigrated to America from Peru and started her life there is just one of the many unanswered questions in the film.
Cassie has an accident at work, which triggers her powers, the ability to manipulate time and see the future.
Audiences will also be introduced to the 2003 version of Ezekiel. Ezekiel also has spider powers and has recurring dreams of being killed by three Spider-Women.
The three women are Julia, Anya, and Matty, played by Sidney Sweeney, Isabella Merced, and Celeste O'Connor, respectively. As of 2003, none of them have powers, but through Ezekiel's dreams it is assumed that they will eventually gain powers, but we don't get any further explanation for this and the movie ends with them still helpless.
Ezekiel is a weak villain, with cheesy lines like “Trust me” that detract from the potential depth of his character. I'm glad I didn't know that today was the day I was going to die. ”
Because of bad things sound editingEzekiel's voice is dubbed for almost the entire movie, which is very distracting.
Ezekiel sets out to kill the girls who were prophesied to assassinate him, but they were still teenagers in 2003.
Cathy and the three girls, who did not know each other at the time, end up boarding the same train by chance. She then has a premonition that Ezekiel will murder them and decides to take the girls into the middle of the forest, but they are all unrealistically calm.
Through unnatural conversations, each person's individuality is forcibly established. Julia is innocent and good-natured, Isabella is a nerd, and Matty is a rebel. If their roles weren't made clear in the dialogue, Julia wears schoolgirl clothes throughout the film, and Isabella wears a shirt that says “I eat math for breakfast.”
Side note: Just putting glasses on Sweeney isn't enough to make her a homely teenager. “”beautiful girl behind glassesThe metaphor has been exhausted.
However, the film also shows strong costume choices, such as Cassie's gorgeous red leather jacket and dark blue shirt combination, which alludes to classic Spider-Man colors.
Shortly after meeting the girls, Cassie realizes that the myth of spider people is true and decides to go to Peru to look for answers. There she meets Santiago, the man who saved Constance, and he helps her understand and control her powers.
The parts of the film where Cassie is in Peru feel rushed, improbable, and confusing. Plus, Cassie is wanted by the police for allegedly kidnapping her three girls on her train, so how can she go on a trip abroad so soon?
Quickly returning to America, Cassie, Julia, Anya, and Mattie work together to defeat Ezekiel and ultimately found family.
Unrealistic actions and actions during the movie take the audience away from the movie. When Kathy and her girls were staying at a hotel to hide from Ezekiel, they didn't lock the door behind them when they entered the room. If I were being chased by a man with superhuman abilities, I would remember to lock the door.
This movie is full of lucky conveniences and unanswered questions that the screenwriters hope the audience will forget. How was Kathy able to quickly find the exact spot in the Amazon rainforest where her mother took the photo 30 years ago, without a map or guide? Can it poison people just by touching them? How does Spider-Woman get her powers?
The characters are never seen wearing superhero suits, except for Ezekiel's dreams and a brief premonition that Cassie has at the end of the film. They spend less than a minute in the suits, but the movie feels more like a two-hour origin story than a superhero movie.
However, songs with strong female voices such as “''dream“The Cranberries”I think we're all alone now“Tiffany” and “toxicBritney Spears elevated this movie and its girl power themes.
I don't think this movie would have been as repulsive if it had been directed by a man, had a male lead, or sexualized women through their clothing.
Female superheroes are often unnecessarily sexualized, from the suits they wear to the way they're photographed. However, this does not exist in “Madame Web”. For Johnson and Sweeney, two actresses who have been largely sexualized by the media, this lack of objectification was likely a surprise to many viewers. Director Clarkson didn't give in to those expectations, even if it drove up ratings, and that's to be commended.
This movie certainly isn't the best of the year, but I don't think it's going to be the worst either. This movie wasn't particularly memorable, but it wasn't boring either. This is a fun watch as long as you're with friends and don't want to do anything too serious and don't think too much about the details.
Rating: 6/10Â