Just when I thought the Marvel Universe had nowhere to grow, along comes the endearing Madame Web. Anchored by Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, with her coy smile and I-got-it attitude, this superhero barely shows her powers largely because she’s not fully aware about what they are, except for a curious ability to see into the immediate future.
Without the usual overdose of bombs and fisticuffs of the formulaic superhero films, Madame Web accentuates the humanistic sides of its heroes, including three teen-age “orphans”: Julia (Sydney Sweeney), Mattie (Celeste O'Connor), and Anya (Isabela Merced), who hook up with Cassandra, all four on the lam from a pesty black-costumed spider out of an Amazon arachnid tribe that will eventually bring us the goody-boy Spider Man. But right now, Cassandra is at the forefront of heroic activity as she seeks answers such as the death of mom in the jungle and why her fingers tingle.
I like this minimalist adventure because even usually-vacuous teens have interesting personalities and traits that, unbeknownst to them, will serve in the future as they assume their super-hero mandates. Meanwhile, jousting with Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), the man who double-crossed Cassandra's mom in ‘73 Amazon, means stopping traffic and trains and disorienting the bad boy in the slow revelation of Cassandra’s emerging power and leadership and their own ability to survive without parents. Although Ezekiel is one of the most boring villains ever, the emphasis is on the emerging heroines.
While the search for parents and roots has been a romantic staple for years, especially in super-hero films, Madame Web gives a touch of reality as our 4 heroines have realistic reasons for being untethered. They act civil, not the usual way for teens in this genre.
Although the buzz on Madame Web has been modest and the time of year indicative of the studio’s lack of confidence, with Dakota Johnson’s Casandra in charge, I can see a bright future for a genre showing its age. Getting bitten by a Peruvian bug has definite life-enhancing advantages.
Madame Web
Director: S.J. Clarkson (The Defenders)
Screenplay: Matt Sazama (Morbius) et al.
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney
Run Time: 1h 57m
Rating: PG-13
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics as well as top-ten NPR podcasts Back Talk and Double Take out of WCBE 90.5 FM, Columbus, Ohio. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com