Like every region in the world, Hollywood too can pride in big disappointments as well as big successes. Today, we’re diving into the stories of two superhero films that faced significant challenges but have sparked conversations for different reasons: The two films are “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” and “Madame Web”.
These films are oddities within the universe of superhero films, both dealing with the problem of looking for its niche in drastically different movie worlds.
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl: A Dull Failure
Shot in early 2005, “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” was created by Robert Rodriguez who further popularized making of kids’ adventurous films. It was also the movie that featured Taylor Lautner in young age playing the role of Sharkboy, who later came to fame with the movie “Twilight“. Vivid and attractive 3D, giving the viewers the impression of a sparkling fairy tale, was just complemented with the screenplay about the world, seemingly created with a child’s imagination.
Consequently, this movie, which had a rather cheery plot and a number of familiar themes that should have been attractive to children, was not very successful in the States. Even though it was made on a production budget of $50 million it only grossed about $72 million at the world box office. Although it was not a comprehensive loss on the financial front, the film was not able to perform well and thus become one of the year-end disappointments.
The criticism was at the main being its screenplay and its story, where many people found it wanting on the depth and structure. However, in front of the expected viewers that is children, colorful picture and fabulous environment would have been sufficient to get the show going. It has retained its familiar feel for what can be considered as those who used to enjoy this story as kids despite its failure to get good reviews from critics.
Madame Web: The Dynamics of Spider-men Fighting Each Other
Jump to 2023 and Sony has added “Madame Web” into the Spider-Man universe series. That is why fans were expecting that with Dakota Johnson as the protagonist, the film would introduce an interesting new spin on the Spider-Man story by showing audiences his origin.
However, it was met with a critical as well as commercial reception that was full of obstacles. Even though the production cost was within $80 million, the movie grossed just above $100 million at the worldwide box office, which is not very impressive in today’s overly-hyped superhero films.
The reception to Madame Web was not very favorable with majority of the critics pointing out weak character development and a messy plot. To be precise, following the reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website, the film got a meager 11 percent approval; therefore, many viewers and critics considered it to be one of the weaker parts of the expanding Spider-Man Universe.
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Unlike other MCU, “Madame Web” could not attract the audience interested in the superhero genre, as well as did not form a new target audience, which proves that it is challenging to develop solo movies within a large cinematic universe.
A Tale of Two Ratings: Who Was In a Better Position?
Surprisingly when one examines the two films, it can be seen that “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” is slightly more positively received than “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. ” It looked equally spotted on Rotten Tomatoes, where it drew a pitiful 20%,$ to trump “Madame Web” that had to content itself with a paltry 11%.
Even though neither of these films could be attributed to be a critical success, the fact that the “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” was able to capture its target audience — children — it was able to do more with their budget than what “The Pacifier” did.
“Sharkboy and Lavagirl” was also able to leave a stronger cultural impact mainly because it was more popular among the youths and has that imaginative appeal to it. Nevertheless, the film obtained cult status amongst people of the millennial generation who watched this movie during their childhood.
The Future of Superhero Films: Some of the Worst Mistakes
The problems of “Madame Web” veil the more general issue in the case of superhero films that do not involve famous characters. Madame Web, for example, is not as popular as Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Venom or anyone of that sort who could actually carry a whole blockbuster franchise. Since the superhero films are becoming more popular, it has become even more crucial to discuss the importance of characters and plots in contemporary films.
[ Also Read: MCU’s Biggest Flop and Top Movie Ratings ]
Some of Spider-man related films; for instance, Venom, did well; however, others such as Morbius or Madame Web seem the opposite. Likewise, in future, some companies like Sony and others may have to pay more attention towards the story, character building, and feeling of engagement within their universes to sustain the audience interest.
Can Sony Revive Its Spider-Man Multiverse?
To further revive its Spider-Man Universe, Sony has to analyze its mistakes first. The outcomes of future projects therefore remains to been seen depending on whether a fan pleaser approach can be found in tandem with a linearity that delivers coherent plot lines and original angles that can be offered on the secondary characters.
It should also be noted that the MCU has necessary interconnected plots as well as characters’ developments throughout the entire series of movies. Thus if Sony is to sustain such a pace it will have to shift its reliance from Spider-Man brand and pay more attention to the narratives and characters.
Share Your Thoughts!
What do you think? Have you watch The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl or Madame Web? After Avengers: Endgame’s release, could Sony try to work its way around the Spider-Man Universe anymore or should it start building from scratch? You are welcome to post your comments on the article down below.
Once again, we would like to hear your opinion on these movies and what you think awaits superhero films. Watch this space for more discussions on movies, characters, Hollywood stories and more that have audience hooked to the screen!