In my opinion, “Madame Web” feels akin to Venom 2. It comes across as a B-level Marvel flick. The plot is rather simplistic, and the antagonist lacks intrigue. Even Dakota Johnson’s portrayal of Madame Web fails to impress. The overall film feels dull and uninspiring, with a repetitive theme of people gaining powers from spider bites. Around 40% into the movie, three characters, seemingly teenagers but portrayed by actresses clearly in their 20s, are introduced, throwing off the movie’s tone.
“Madame Web” does have its moments of entertainment. The storyline remains refreshingly uncomplicated, grounded mostly in the real world rather than delving into feverish animated dreamscapes or CGI-filled outer space realms like many recent Marvel flicks. Plus, with a runtime of around 110 minutes, it doesn’t feel like a drag to sit through. However, despite these merits, it still falls short of sparking any real excitement.
Sony’s attempt to distance itself from Marvel’s Spider-Man, while also striving to establish connections, creates significant confusion in the plot.
I suspect this movie endured rigorous test screenings and subsequent edits, resulting in a profoundly uninteresting film devoid of directorial finesse, narrative intrigue, and compelling dramatic performances. It suffers from questionable ADR (additional dialogue replacement), disjointed editing, and leaves a lingering sense of an absent final act, rendering it disappointingly unfinished and entirely unengaging.
After its six-day opening spanning the President’s Day weekend, beginning the prior Wednesday and extending through Monday, Madame Web amassed a modest $26 million domestically. Subsequently, after two weekends in theaters, the film grossed approximately $77 million.
This numbers are Quite disgraceful for a super hero movie grossing worldwide! But lets hope SONY finds a way to come out of this grief sooner and also learn something useful out of it.