The Girl in the Spider's Web

Starring: Claire Foy, Sverrir Gudnason, LaKeith Stanfeld, Sylvia Hoeks, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Convery, Claes Bang, Synnove Macody Lund, Cameron Britton
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) finds herself in deadly territory once again when she obtains a dangerous computer program that mysteriously brings her in conflict with the past she thought she left behind.

Review:

Tim: I have to say, the odds were stacked against me liking The Girl in the Spider's Web. I was a huge fan of Stieg Larsson's incredible trilogy. I enjoyed the Swedish films with Noomi Rapace. I loved David Fincher's American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And, rather than follow that up with adaptations of books 2 and 3, the studio decided in its infinite wisdom to reboot the franchise by recasting and skipping the second and third books, and moving onto the fourth book, which was not written by Larsson (he tragically died before being able to write any more books). Side note, I refuse to read or even acknowledge the "fourth book" because it wasn't written by Larsson and was instead, a cash grab. As expected, this film was a failure, quality-wise, critically, and at the box office.

Part of the reason I loved the 2011 version was because it was directed by the great David Fincher, who took Larsson's work and made it this spellbinding, dark thriller that stuck with you long after the credits rolled. Fede Alvarez is a clear step down. He directs a movie that is interchangeable with any other action thriller. There's so little here that is different or unique. The 2011 version brimmed with Fincher's personality and it had its own voice as a film. This one feels like it's just mimicking a slew of superior films. I'm not saying this is a terrible film, but it's never more than serviceable. It's okay. It's not especially boring, but there's nothing that really holds your attention. Alvarez directs a film that feels like it's fully focused on adapting the words to the screen without much consideration for how to make a great movie that stands on its own. This whole film is lackluster, missing anything that makes it feel special.

Now, I will say that Claire Foy does a pretty incredible job as Lisbeth. She's such a fantastic character and Foy makes the adjustments to her own personality to inhabit this character. Noomi Rapace did a fantastic job originally in the role. Rooney Mara took the character in a different direction and while I enjoyed her performance, I didn't quite love it. Foy adds her own characteristics to the character, but it works. Foy is likely the highlight of the film- I enjoyed her performance as Lisbeth very much. I just feel sad that she had a fairly disappointing film around her.

My biggest complaint about the original Swedish trilogy is that they didn't get Blomkvist right. He's such a fantastic character and although not the action star you might expect, he felt so critical to the books. He felt like an afterthought in the original trilogy. It was only Fincher's film that really nailed the character and it helped casting Daniel Craig in the role. This movie makes the same mistakes as the original trilogy. I don't know who Sverrier Gudnason is, but his Blomkvist is even more of an afterthought than ever. He felt pointless in the film. This movie is all about Lisbeth and Blomkvist was totally unnecessary. Larsson's trilogy was brilliant because he knew you needed both these characters. The way they played off each other was critical. This movie completely misses that. Gudnason is a snooze and his Blomkvist is utterly forgettable. That was a major issue with this film.

The supporting cast is fine. LaKeith Stanfeld was surprisingly good in his supporting role. Stephen Merchant had a few good scenes as well. Sylvia Hoeks felt miscast. Her role was so critical and her performance felt so lacking. The movie really needed a stronger actress in this role.

The story is okay. I suppose it mostly stays true to the themes in Larsson's original trilogy. I enjoyed learning more about Lisbeth's family and her history. The whole "nuclear weapons software" thing felt like it was a little bit much. I believe Lisbeth is a great hacker, but that was a bit hard to swallow. It felt like the story was too ambitious, whereas the original trilogy of books was more grounded in reality. I didn't hate the story, but I can't say I was too impressed with it, either.

I wasn't surprised to see that while the 2011 version was kind of viewed as a box office failure with only $100 million domestically, The Girl in the Spider's Web made just over $14 million. That's a stunning drop, but it aligns with the poorer quality of this film. I sincerely hope they just let this franchise go. I would have loved to see Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara fill out their trilogy, but that's a dream that will never happen. As much as I love Lisbeth and Blomkvist, it's time to put this franchise on ice.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)