On Valentine’s Day, Sony Pictures released its latest superhero movie set in the Spider-Verse. madame web.
Directed by S.J. Clarkson, starring Dakota Johnson, Sidney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabella Merced, and Tahar Rahim. madame web The setting is New York City in 2003, before Spider-Man becomes the city’s guardian. After nearly drowning, paramedic Cassandra Webb (Johnson) gains the ability to see her own immediate future. Her fate soon intertwines with that of three teenagers, Julia Cornwall (Sweeney), Matty Franklin (O’Connor), and Anya Corazon (Merced), each of whom will one day grow up to become Spider-Woman. . For reasons unknown, the three Spider-Women end up killing Ezekiel Sims (Rahim), a Spider-Man-like figure himself. (This seems morally okay since Sims is a bad guy, but it doesn’t really sit well with him.)
Shortly before Cassie’s death, Sims was working with Cassie’s mother on researching spiders in the Amazon. virus line from that trailer didn’t make a movie) and now he has recurring clairvoyant dreams in which he eventually commits the murder. He decides to take matters into his own hands and kill the three girls before they grow up to become Spider-Women. Responsible for protecting these three strangers destined for greatness, Webb must quickly learn new abilities in order to save Cornwall, Franklin, and Corazon.
The details of almost all of these plot points are unknown. madame web It’s a nasty movie with the best quality Johnson’s iconic press corps. But is it bad enough to qualify on its own? good bad movie? To investigate that question and many others, I hired my colleague Kellen Becoats to help make sense of the confusion.? madame web. —Daniel Chin
Daniel Chin: Kellen, to be honest, I don’t know what to make of it. madame web.I was so confused after watching it morbius It’s 2022 and Sony’s latest Spider-Verse movie has so many choices I can’t fathom it. madame web It currently has a critic score of 14% (which somehow Under that score morbius It received a 55% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ CinemaScore from audiences. But those low ratings don’t seem to represent how bad and how ridiculous this movie actually is.
To begin the discussion, I would like to ask you about your overall first impressions. madame web, and the intentions behind it. It seems uncontroversial that this is another superhero movie failure, but given its sheer absurdity, and especially given Johnson’s (co-worker Jodi) sometimes absurd bluster, there seems to be some intentional I can’t help but wonder if something is happening. Walker said: queen He plays the clairvoyant protagonist of the film.
Do you think? madame web Is it just a bad movie that Sony mishandled?Is this a case of a movie so bad that it unintentionally becomes funny enough to join the ranks of good-bad movies? Or did Sony know that? that’s right What was the company doing when it created this ridiculous project?
Kellen Becoats: First of all, I would like to make it clear that I have no talent whatsoever to be a screenwriter, producer, director, etc. Making movies is hard. Then again, it’s not easy to make a movie this bad either. It’s crazy that if a critic’s score for this movie was a person’s age, that person wouldn’t be old enough to buy a cigarette.how is it madame web Is it somehow worse than the trailers imagined?
My general first impression basically boils down to this billy madison A clip I sent after leaving the theater.I feel like the creator of madame web When I experienced two hours of poor CGI, actors who had never met each other, and more unpleasant laughter than genuine excitement from other audience members, it stole my time — not my money. No, shout out to the AMC stublist.
The problem with this Spider-Verse is that some of these movies seem to know they’re being ridiculous and are bent over trying to get everyone in on the joke (Venom), while others take themselves too seriously to the point where they fail even when they have a cult following. (Sometimes the same movie tricks Sony into failing twice.)
my biggest problem is madame web That means you don’t need any of those tackles. There’s not a single person in this movie having fun. Johnson seemed to do his best with about 60 percent of his scenes before the script and Into the Spider-Verse made him lose interest and couldn’t continue. I don’t even know why the supporting characters are here other than as a stage set. Almost all the characters are very one-dimensional. The writers look like they’re going crazy with metaphors on a dartboard, and stars like Johnson, Sweeney, and Adam Scott all look like they want to be anywhere but on set. I definitely don’t think Sony intentionally tried to make this movie this ridiculous, but either way, we got a stinker.
jaw: I totally understand your dislike for this movie and I don’t agree with you. Speaking of Scott, one of the aspects of the film that really surprised me was how much his character, Ben Parker, and his family, including his sister Mary, played by Emma Roberts, are involved in the story. was also a surprise) itself).
For the uninitiated, Ben Parker peter Parker is years away from becoming Spider-Man in this 2003 version. This is quite groundbreaking. madame web Not only did this movie give us the first chance to see poor Uncle Ben in his youth, but it also gave us an unprecedented chance to make it to the end of the movie without him dying tragically. (Apart from the tragedy of being involved) madame web. )
It seems as though the film is primarily set in 2003, introduces soon-to-be uncle Ben, and makes the birth of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man a major plot point. It happens when teenage Spider-Woman, played by Madame Web, helps the Parker family. When Mary goes into labor, she goes to the hospital. There’s not much that connects this movie with the Netherlands, but… spiderman movie, that’s the only timeline some kind of Makes sense. Peter’s name is intentionally omitted from the film, including during Mary’s baby shower (which features a game in which guests try to guess the baby name), but madame web There were enough nods to the future Spider-Man that it looked like we were one step away from hearing Danny Elfman’s theme music blare as baby Peter finally emerges from the womb.
What did you think? madame webHow does it connect to the rest of the Spider-Verse? Did you stand and cheer when you heard the line, “Great power comes when you accept responsibility?”
Becoats: The only moment in this movie that made me stand up and cheer was when I realized there was no post-credits scene and had to go home. The Spider-Verse connection is certainly interesting, but I wish it had been explained in more detail rather than just hinted at. The film features five superpowered (or seemingly destined to have) spider people, but the origin of their powers was never fully explained. We can assume that Ezekiel gained his powers using a very rare spider that he stole from the Amazon, but we don’t actually know how much of that power he has. Cassie can astral project herself into multiple places at once (and she can selectively see the future), but her refinement of that ability is essentially yada yada. And since the teenage Spider-Woman only has powers in visions of the future, perhaps Sony is preparing a sequel. (If there is a sequel, please madame web, send that shit directly to Disney+. )
All of this means that its connections to other Sony films seem questionable at best. Will we suddenly see an older Madame Web and her Spider-Woman? Venom 3 (More on this movie later) As a potential ally or foil to Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock? Like you said, I really don’t understand why the creators would make such a big deal out of the character Ben Parker, unless they’re trying to backdoor Peter into this series, but it all feels so convoluted. . Already the series has vampires, alien goo-human hybrids, and people with spider powers running around. Why pack in more LORE?
I think the biggest problem is madame web Almost nothing is really explained in the movie, most characters have no backstory, and the audience just gets a feel for the atmosphere? You’re introducing a bunch of new characters to the franchise, but you’re not giving us a relaxing night in a jazz bar. Vibrator alone is not enough! I happily ate the food and tried to turn off my brain during this movie, but… madame web I let my brain do all the heavy lifting and at the end I just shrugged my shoulders and was like, “This movie is everything you want.” That just wasn’t enough for me. The last movie that made me so desperate for someone to explain its purpose was Don’t worry darling, which was also preceded by a cursed press tour. When you’re being compared to someone who just blew up Harry Styles’ acting career? Movie, you’re not in a good place.
So where does Sony’s Spider-Verse go from here? Two more entries are set to be released this year. kraven the hunter August and Venom 3 in November. Do you think Sony can save this world, or are we doomed to continue watching heart-meltingly crappy Marvel movies for the rest of the year?
jaw: Kellen, you ask a good question. I was curious to see what Sony was planning to do with the Spider-Verse other than a great animated series centered around Miles Morales.But when kraven the hunter ‘ will once again leave us with more questions than answers.
Based on the trailer alone, kraven the hunter Could be ranked right there morbius and madam web In terms of absurdity, Russell Crowe takes on yet another indiscernible, vaguely Eastern European accent, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven bites off a man’s nose, and young Craven Examples include gaining superhero powers from lion blood that falls into an open wound.
Screenshot (via Sony Pictures Entertainment)
In the early days of theatrical screening, madame web controlled by Paramount Bob Marley: One Love Although it’s a biopic, it probably doesn’t bode well in terms of box office success. meanwhile, morbius It was in dire straits, both in crisis and financially. I can’t say I have high expectations, but Requirements Much more needs to be done and hope remains for Sony Venom 3, its predecessor was a financial success despite mixed reviews. As you mentioned, Venom The series has hit a live-action sweet spot for Sony thanks to how much it leans into its own silliness, but it’s hard to see how far the studio will go there beyond the inevitable crossover with Spider-Man himself. I doubt if you can get it from.
With no actual Spider-Man movie on the schedule, things are looking pretty bleak for Sony’s live-action Marvel company, but you never know what will happen. At least, not without the help of Peruvian spiders. Our own Cassandra Webb once said: “Who knows best about the future? It hasn’t happened yet.”
