Film Journal 2024: Madame Web
Directed by S.J. Clarkson
I keep waiting for the cynicism to die, but alas, here we are. Another fringe Marvel film left having to dig itself out of a pre-dug hole before it even releases. Sunk before it even had a chance to swim, and not likely to find its way above water after its release either.
For my money, this is a fair degree better than the cynicism would have you believe, thanks in large part to an enjoyable and endearing performance by Johnson, some good chemistry, and the decision to keep things relatively simple. If this thing had a chance, I think it would serve a younger (and it does ever younger), female audience quite well.
The nearly non-existent villain is its biggest weakness, but thankfully he barely gets any screen time, so that kind of balances out. Its slightly uneven too when it comes to the dialogue, which does make the decision to go for simplicity weigh on the parts that need to establish the larger story. We see this mostly in the third act when it needs to bring all the threads together. But where it works is when Johnson is on screen trying to figure things out, and that is most of the film.
Suggested to me a blend of Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel, just dialed back. It has some nice thematic resonances that play through the film, book-ending it with an sense of purpose and message. And I also enjoyed how they employed Madame Web’s powers on a visual level.
Didn’t regret taking a chance on this one. It’s a solid middle grade outing that had me engaged and interested, which is what I hoped for.
The Stories of my Life 