Madame Web Movie Review: Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web is a sarcastic young woman who does not seem very comfortable in action scenes, and this is not because the actress is not capable of supporting them but because these scenes are constructed with little precision as if they were not important. Of course, the search for one’s place in the world, self-determination, and self-awareness are much more central elements than the “beats”, for Cassandra, but also in her battle against the evil Ezekiel (a very wasted Tahar Rahim), the sequences of action are certainly not inspired.

Madame Web Movie Plot:

The film tells of Cassandra Webb, played with energy and a certain degree of credibility by Dakota Johnson, who finds herself discovering that she has precognitive qualities that she cannot control. This gift of hers leads her onto the path of three teenagers, whom she sees dying at the hands of a stranger and whom she promptly saves, not without the protests of the unsuspecting girls. The four will embark on an adventure together, becoming a small family, but not before discovering that the murderous stranger comes directly from Cassandra’s past.

Madame Web Movie Analysis:

It would be inappropriate to speak of disappointment while preparing to write the review of Madame Web, since spectators’ expectations, in general, were not very high. However, there was a lot of curiosity, since the film promised to be unusual even for the comic book genre which now boasts a great variety of declinations. And indeed the film takes a path never traveled before, telling the story of a young visionary who embarks on a personal journey of self-discovery, while finding along her path a series of figures who will complete her, forming with her a sisterhood of outcasts who find their sense of existence in mutual communion.

In the source material, Cassandra Webb is a mysterious, blind, paraplegic, elderly figure with impressive psychic powers. Nothing could be more different from the athletic and young Johnson. It is clear that the choice of a much loved and followed actress was made to meet the public, however, the former heroine of the 50 Shades saga seizes the opportunity and manages, despite shaky writing, to give life to a character ironic and genuinely having fun while babysitting the characters of Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor and Isabela Merced, all extremely sacrificed in the film, with two-dimensional and vaguely stereotyped characters, but still capable of giving a nice energy to the story as a whole.

Despite its captivating protagonists, Madame Web runs aground in the stylistic and narrative choices that transform it and make it “old”. The film in fact embraces an early 2000s cinecomic aesthetic, which appears decidedly clumsy and out of time. If the choice to reproduce a specific narrative and aesthetic style was deliberately made because the film is set (without a real dramaturgical reason) in 2003, then one could also understand its usefulness or at least a sense. However, the fact that the film speaks a cinematic language that no longer exists seems rather to depend on a lack of ideas and a brilliant point of view that can effectively re-tell the story of these comic book icons in a contemporary way to today’s audience.

Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web is a sarcastic young woman who does not seem very comfortable in action scenes, and this is not because the actress is not capable of supporting them but because these scenes are constructed with little precision as if they were not important. Of course, the search for one’s place in the world, self-determination, and self-awareness are much more central elements than the “beats”, for Cassandra, but also in her battle against the evil Ezekiel (a very wasted Tahar Rahim), the sequences of action are certainly not inspired.

Madame Web makes fun of its fans and tells a story of origins that is ultimately very classic, mixing the cards on the table a bit and misleading the viewer who definitely expects a different type of story, a female team-up, as Birds of Prey or The Marvels had already done. However, this does not prevent the actresses from doing their part, compatibly with the screenplay which is too often specious and confusing, and with a style of storytelling which, by making an effort to find an original point of view and new ways of telling the story (especially the scenes of premonitions), it ends up making a big mess. We are in the area of the unfortunate Morbius with Jared Leto, so to speak, but at least this time the protagonists take themselves less seriously. The film seems aware of its limitations, but boldly exposes them all from the first moment, thus trying to make amends for its shortcomings. If he succeeds, the viewer will decide.