‘Madame Web’ first reactions call it an “embarrassing mess”

13 February, 2024

Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney

Madame Web has been branded an “embarrassing mess” in the first reactions to the fourth instalment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe.

The premiere for the film, which stars Dakota Johnson in the lead role as a woman who develops psychic abilities, was held in Los Angeles last night (February 12).

Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the movie also stars The White Lotus’ Sydney Sweeney, as well as Emma Roberts and Adam Scott. It is released in cinemas on February 14.

Following the screening, the film was roundly panned with one critic describing it as an “embarrassing mess” and “probably the worst comic book movie I have ever seen”.

He added: “Filled with atrocious dialogue, awkward editing, & all around laughable structure. I sat there baffled scene by scene someone approved this. The memes will redeem it.”

Richard Neto, Editor In-Chief at The Hollywood Handle was equally as scathing. He wrote: “MadameWeb is awful. I tried to enjoy it but sadly the poor execution wouldn’t help it. The cast is definitely great but the performances were definitely disappointing. Sony gotta stop making these.”

Another added: “I was not, unfortunately, successfully entertained. #MadameWeb is a series of misses and wasted opportunities and not just for obvious reasons…”

Of the few that praised the film, one wrote: “#MadameWeb exceeds expectations! Some of the dialog is cheesy AF, some heavy-handed product placement, and probably couldve been tidied up a bit more. But the cast really work magic with what they had, their chemistry is a lot of fun, and the suits look great.”

Another said the film was “totally fine” before adding: “The leads are charming. Dakota Johnson is a witchy weirdo. The slasher/FINAL DESTINATION meets superheroes vibes are there. But there’s just not a whole lot to it. Not a disaster. Just kinda there.”

See a host of further first reactions below:

It comes after Johnson recently said that acting on the set of Madame Web, with a high volume of CGI effects, was “absolutely psychotic”.

She added: “I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen, and there’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion. That to me was absolutely psychotic,” she said.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be good at all! I hope that I did an okay job!’ But I trusted [director SJ Clarkson]. She works so hard, and she has not taken her eyes off this movie since we started.”

The post ‘Madame Web’ first reactions call it an “embarrassing mess” appeared first on NME.