Film Review — Madame Web
The latest Spider-Man spin-off is a cluttered, uninvolving mess
Whilst I could do with a ten-year hiatus on superhero films as much as the next cinemagoer, I confess, at this stage, I’d make an exception for Spider-Man. Having thoroughly enjoyed the Tom Holland-Zendaya helmed entries and been suitably blown away by the retina-scorching freewheeling visual experimentation of the Spider-Verse animated features (with the second of these even making my ten best films of the year list), I’m more than happy to see further instalments of both.
This goodwill does not extend to the Spider-Man spin-off universe currently cluttering cinemas with the likes of Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Morbius (2022), and now Madame Web. What’s more, there are more of these superfluous slabs of celluloid on the way, with Kraven the Hunter also bludgeoning its unwanted way into multiplexes this year. Yes, I know I should keep an open mind, and I will. If Kraven the Hunter turns out to be a masterpiece, I shall eat a hefty portion of humble pie, served via one of those ghastly celebrity pseudo-apologies that blither on about how they are taking time to “reflect” and “do better”.
However, as things stand at present, the evidence is on my side: The Venom films are passable with low expectations. But with so many great…
