By John Corrado

Made by Sony to capitalize on the success of the MCU, and take advantage of the fact that they still own the Spider-Man rights, Madame Web falls into the Venom or Morbius category of modern comic book movies.

The feature directorial debut of S.J. Clarkson, whose previous credits are all in TV, Web is a poorly assembled affair that has the feel of a spinoff made purely to exploit its loose connection to Marvel’s Spidey IP, and plays like a cheap knockoff to the real thing.

Dakota Johnson stars in Madame Web as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in New York City, whose mother Constance (Kerry Bishé) died in childbirth in 1973, while researching spiders deep in the Amazon jungle.

After a near-death experience from an accident, Cassandra finds herself developing clairvoyant abilities that allow her to see a few minutes into the future. These powers guide her towards three teen girls, Julia (Sydney Sweeney), Anya (Isabela Merced) and Mattie (Celeste O’Connor), who she has to protect from Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), a researcher with spidey powers who betrayed Cassandra’s mom. He has visions of the girls developing powers and becoming Spider-Women in the future who will eventually kill him, and wants to kill them first.

The screenplay is littered with clunky, at times absurd dialogue and plot holes, and is brought to the screen by a cast of talented actors who seem utterly bored with the material (many of Rahim’s lines are also badly dubbed over with distracting ADR). These are fine young actresses, but none of them seem particularly interested in the characters, and can you blame them? You can tell that Johnson is not compelled by what’s on the page, with her apparent disinterest bordering on apathy becoming Cassandra’s defining trait.

The film has a few moments of campy entertainment value, sure, with some unintentionally funny bits that could gain it somewhat of a cult following as a piece of schlock. But Madame Web is otherwise a limp comic book movie knockoff that just isn’t very good. Even the action scenes are brought to the screen in a way that feels bland and uninspired, with often cheesy visual effects.

Film Rating: ★½ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (Blu-ray):

The Blu-ray also includes a number of bonus features, including several featurettes, a gag reel, and brief deleted scene.

• Future Vision (6 minutes, 51 seconds): Cast and crew talk about bonding during making the film, and the movie’s themes of family.

• Casting the Web (9 minutes, 9 seconds): Director Clarkson and the main cast members discuss their characters in the film.

• Oracle of the Page (4 minutes, 54 seconds): A look at bringing various characters from the original comic books to the screen.

• Gag Reel (4 minutes, 31 seconds): Footage of the actors goofing off on set, not taking themselves too seriously.

• Fight Like a Spider (5 minutes, 31 seconds): A look at some of the stunts the actors had to perform, with a lot hanging upside down on wires in front of blue screens.

• Easter Eggs – The Many Threads of Madame Web (3 minutes, 55 seconds): A look at some of the comic book references hidden throughout the film.

• Deleted Scene – You Died (41 seconds): An extended scene with Johnson and co-star Adam Scott.

Madame Web is a Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release. It’s 116 minutes and rated PG.

Street Date: April 30th, 2024