Jessica Korkounis/SonyMadame Web, the fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man universe, was described as a “tangled mess” by critics, who largely savaged it.
The film stars Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, and both the film's premise and acting were harshly criticized in a series of one-star reviews.
Based on Marvel Comics, the film centers around a medic with spider-based psychic powers.
Last year, the trailer went viral for its “laughingly uncertain tone.”
In a one star reviewBenjamin Lee of The Guardian described the film as “as stupid and hackneyed as the worst of the genre, with shoddy network television effects, uninvolving action and unfunny and inelegant dialogue.”
Variety Peter Debruge He also singled out the film, saying it seemed “unnecessary” in “a world that's already a little overcrowded with spider-related superheroes.”
He added that the title character has “unspecified powers and nothing particularly interesting to do.”
Jessica Korkounis/SonyIn the Marvel comics, Madame Web is an elderly blind woman with psychic powers. As a clairvoyant, she helps Spider-Man but is little more than a “peripheral character” in the original stories, according to Variety.
On screen, Webb – played by Johnson – is introduced as a “Generation X sports ambulance driver”.
Rolling Stone The latest entry in the SSU series is called “The Cats of Superhero Movies” – a reference to the 2019 satirical film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical.
David Fair savagely wrote that Madame Web is “much worse” than you've heard, adding: “You're looking forward to a future in which the end credits of this film are in your rearview mirror and disappearing from your memory.”
She told The Hollywood Reporter Madame Web was another film that fell into the category where “every year, studio executives excavate minor characters, cloak them in a fog of hype and leave moviegoers to debate, defend, or discard the final product.”
Critics were somewhat more divided about the acting.
Johnson 'does his best'
While The Guardian dismissed Johnson as “one of the most inappropriate characters I can remember”, He told IndieWire The leading lady “does her best to save the hilarious retro superhero.”
“Johnson is one of the most sincere and talented actors ever to play a lead role in one of these things, and while that allows her to elevate certain moments in this film beyond where they have a right to be, it also makes it so Ehrlich: “It is impossible for her to hide in the moments when she reveals her misery.”
The film is not the first Sony superhero film to be received negatively by critics.
Her 2022 film Morbius, about a living vampire, has been labeled a “hopeless Marvel project” by Telegraph.
Since Avengers: Endgame made box office history in 2019 by generating a record $1.2bn (£980m) in global ticket sales in its opening run, many superhero films have struggled to get off the ground.
In November, The Marvels grossed just $47m (£38m) in its first weekend, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom also performed poorly at the box office in 2023.
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