Madame Web is boring plot with superficial character drama. The story is woefully convoluted yet surprisingly empty, making viewers work hard for little reward. There's a punishing level of exposition, delivered as bluntly as possible. Every line of dialogue is forced, clunky, or cringey. Protagonists are one-note and stagnant, with any growth feeling completely unearned. It has mediocre humor, silly devices, excessive threads, inconsistent motivation, weak stakes, uneven structure, redundant reveals, thin logic, cliches, and contrivances. The acting is mild, stilted, monotone, and disengaged. Ultimately, Madame Web is derivative and insincere, with no emotions or ideas to convey.
Technically, Madame Web lacks energy, heart, clarity, immersion, or style. The imagery has angles, focus, chaotic movement, drab colors, and no geography. Its editing offers trippy smash inserts and repetition with erratic pacing, dragging momentum, and overcut action. The sound uses smash cuts, combat, stings, risers, distortions, and awkward ADR. Its music adds one decent needle drop, but is otherwise generic and arbitrary. The cast is famous but underutilized. Its production design sways between nondescript and incongruent (with obvious product placement). The CGI effects are distracting. Overall, Madame Web is an unenthused patchwork of tired tropes and dull filmmaking.
Writing: 2/10
Direction: 3/10
Cinematography: 3/10
Acting: 4/10
Editing: 5/10
Sound: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 4/10
Production Design: 4/10
Casting: 7/10
Effects: 5/10
Overall Score: 4.4/10
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