Overview: Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities.

Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures...if they can all survive a deadly present.

Blu-ray Verdict: It’s 2003. Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) and Ben Parker (Adam Scott) are NYFD paramedics. She’s an orphan when 30 years earlier, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) killed her mother during an Amazon scientific expedition. They had gone to find a mysterious spider with great healing powers and a local legend of a people with outrageous superpowers.

Back to 2003, Sims has not aged. He has spider superpowers and premonition of his own death years later. Using stolen tech, he finds the teenage versions of his three spider-powered assassins; Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazón (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor).

The popular criticism is that this is the worst movie of the year. Everybody is dunking on this and my expectations are pretty low coming into this. It’s not the worst thing in the world. It’s not even the worst thing coming from this branch of the spider team. It’s passable, albeit with some big issues in writing, logic, and overall flow. Most importantly, I like Dakota Johnson. She’s playing the reluctant hero.

Now, the three girls are rather annoying at first. The movie solves this by showing the villain right away. I thought the girls would spend half the movie thinking that Webb had actually kidnapped them. That would truly be annoying. I get the standard bratty teen characters, but I don’t have to like them. However, I would make a few changes.

Firstly, I would skip the 1973 opening. The audience could discover the story along with Cassandra and there could always be flashbacks. Secondly, the girls should join her on the trip to the Amazon. That would make more logical sense. She would want the girls close to her at all times and the final battle could take place in the jungle.

That’s also a great way for the girls to get their superpowers. So sure, the lack of engagement with the story line was noticeable, suggesting a simpler plot could have avoided forced situations and confusing ideas. The attempt to recreate the atmosphere of 2003 fell short, with modern elements clearly visible in various scenes. And, to my mind, the absence of the promoted superheroines was disappointing, as they only briefly appeared as a villain’s dream and a vision of Cassandra Web at the end.

But come on now, just enjoy it. Some movies are made to entertain you for those two hours without being deep and making you question your existence. Regardless, the movie has plenty of writing problems and some acting issues, but I’ve seen much worst and this is NOT even close to being that bad, trust me.

4K UHD, BLU-RAY™ & DIGITAL EXTRAS:
o Gag Reel
o Easter Eggs
o Oracle Of The Page
o Fight Like A Spider
o Future Vision
o Casting The Web
o Deleted Scene

DVD:
o Future Vision
o Casting The Web