I didn’t have many expectations when it got here to Madame Web, and it was probably not a shock when the film didn’t meet any of them. The sorta-kinda-maybe?? Sony Spider-Verse tie-in acquired absolutely horrible reviews and earned a modest $100 million on the world field workplace. Now that it’s on Blu-ray, 4K SteelBook, and non-premium digital VOD, individuals would possibly wish to see it, if solely out of morbid curiosity.
If I’m being trustworthy, it was little greater than morbid curiosity that introduced me into Madame Web within the first place. Back when it was coming to theaters, I had a delusional second about what the movie might obtain. Seeing the three young heroines masked up and kicking ass underneath the tutelage of an older girl, I believed maybe there was one thing good on this superfluous Spider-adjacent film. I used to be raised on magical woman exhibits, so any prospect of superheroines teaming up excites me!
Image: Sony Pictures
But Madame Web director S.J. Clarkson does completely nothing along with her 4 cool feminine characters, regardless of the mysterious circumstances that join them. Sure, she offers us loads a couple of tribe of unusual Spider-People within the Amazon, however we by no means really discover out why the protagonists are all snarled in that internet of destiny. (Ha.)
One of the extra irritating elements of Madame Web was the tease for Aña Corazón, Mattie Franklin, and Julia Carpenter as superheroes in full spider-powered glory. And but over the course of this film, they by no means get any type of superpowers. Even although we get a whiff of their personalities and backstories, that’s all shunted apart by the baffling story decisions, like protagonist Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson) taking these three endangered superheroes-to-be underneath her wing, then promptly dumping them on her pricey buddy Ben Parker for per week whereas she goes to the Amazon. (You know, the place her mom was researching spiders proper earlier than she died.)
I left the theater mulling over what might have been. There’s a notable dearth of feminine leads in trendy superhero motion pictures, and even much less concentrate on interactions between the feminine members of superhero groups. The MCU retains killing off its main ladies. The Marvels tried to compensate, however its tackle a feminine team-up was too little, too late, even whether it is type of a enjoyable time. My curiosity in superhero motion pictures has been truly fizzling out for a while now, as we’ve been seeing the identical types of heroes and tales again and again. Madame Web had the potential to lastly fill that void. I foolishly let myself hope; these hopes have been crumpled up and tossed right into a trash bin.
But then I remembered that there is a film on the market that delivers on the promise of a superheroine team-up. 2020’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) wasn’t fairly a box-office hit when it got here out — it grossed $205 million worldwide, simply shy of what it needed to break even. That’s a disgrace, as a result of it set a bar for female-team blockbuster motion that no different film has met but.
Granted, that bar continues to be low. But by God, Birds of Prey leaps over it whereas swinging an enormous, glittery sledgehammer. It took watching Madame Web to essentially make me respect it, although.
Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.
Directed by Cathy Yan, Birds of Prey is a free sequel to David Ayer’s 2016 film Suicide Squad, in that it additionally stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. (James Gunn’s 2021 function The Suicide Squad continued her run on the character.) But because the motion pictures’ continuity with one another is unclear, all you actually need to know is that BoP’s model of Harley is freshly damaged up with the Joker and looking for herself. Harley narrates the film in voice-over, gleefully leaping from plot level to plot level, even narrating different characters’ scenes.
Eventually, Harley will get embroiled in a bigger internet of crime. She crosses paths with decided detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), jaded lounge singer turned getaway driver Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), vengeful archer Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and precocious pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). All of the ladies have fleshed-out characters and motivations. On their very own, they’re every compelling, however after they come collectively, their personalities bounce off one another with fantastic synergy.
Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.
Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.
In Madame Web, in the meantime, the characters’ personalities are solely barely hinted at, their interactions simply teased. The film is a slog, however what makes it so irritating is that there are some glimpses of a midway respectable film in there. When Cassie leaves her three reluctant rescuees on their very own within the woods of New Jersey, the youngsters have an all-too-brief trade that highlights their personalities and hints on the on-screen relationships they might have with each other. But the film rapidly abandons that concept in favor of the subsequent off-the-rails plot level.
Birds of Prey does it proper, although. We study all 5 of the primary characters and get an intensive understanding of who they’re and what drives them. That’s already a step up from most superhero motion pictures, the place feminine characters really feel like obligations to spherical out a group and don’t form meaningful relationships past an opportunity to pose for a poster collectively. But the ladies of Birds of Prey don’t exist in such a vacuum. In only one film, they share a big selection of interactions, which develops completely different iterations of their relationships in a means we simply don’t see in large motion flicks.
Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.
Helena is expert with a bow and arrow, however she’s extremely awkward and struggles to make dialog when she lastly meets the bigger group. Cassandra instantly warms to Harley and thinks her ramshackle condominium is the good factor on the earth. In the center of the climactic battle, Harley tosses Dinah a hair tie — as a result of you’ll be able to’t kick ass when your hair’s in your face. All these little interactions fulfill my deep need to see significant feminine relationships in an enormous superhero style flick. The first time I watched the film, I saved considering Yes, sure, sure all through.
The brilliance of Birds of Prey is that every character is seemingly working inside her personal style. Renee is in a detective procedural. Dinah is from against the law thriller. Helena is in a bloody revenge film, Harley in a feel-good post-breakup romp, and Cassandra in her personal little scrappy YA world. When they arrive collectively, the blurry strains between all these tales disappear, they usually collide in sparkles and neon. And it’s all heightened by their small interactions, which flip the film from a enjoyable time right into a memorable one.
There are a great deal of little particulars that make Birds of Prey enjoyable. All of Harley’s costumes are completely iconic, sparkly golden overalls and a fringe coat made from warning tape amongst them. (They’re extra becoming for a chaotic clown character than her 2016 Suicide Squad outfit of booty shorts and a crop prime that claims “Daddy’s Little Monster.”) The villains, notably Ewan McGregor’s Roman Sionis (aka Black Mask), are kooky and dynamic, however they don’t outshine the heroines on display. The lead actresses ship on their performances.
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
But on the finish of the day, the explanation Birds of Prey is such an incredible superheroine film is as a result of it does a couple of easy issues very properly. It consists of not one, not two, however 5 cool feminine characters with distinct personalities. They’re all succesful and expert in their very own methods, and they’re the ones who save the day. And most significantly, by the top of the film, they’re all mates.
Madame Web had all these separate items, and regardless of my low expectations getting in, I couldn’t assist however see its potential. But Aña, Mattie, and Julia don’t even get powers, not to mention an opportunity to grasp them. And each doable likelihood for them to build camaraderie or join with Cassie is shafted because the film as a substitute retains specializing in Cassie’s baffling origin story. Throughout the entire film, I saved enthusiastic about how good it could be if every little thing about it modified. Which simply made me understand that each one I wished to do was watch a film that acquired it proper as a substitute.
Birds of Prey is a superheroine team-up film that truly did get all of it proper. It’s irritating that it’s one of many few. But not less than each time I walk away from yet one more lackluster film that squanders its feminine characters, Birds of Prey can be ready for me in all its dirty, glittery glory.
Birds of Prey is available to stream on Max and is available for rental on Google Play, Apple TV, and different digital platforms. Madame Web is available for rental or buy on the usual digital platforms, for those who should. At least the 4K SteelBook cover art is type of hanging.
