The Girl in the Spider's Web

I’m not exactly a fan of Fincher’s take on Stieg Larsson’s first Millennium book (I prefer the Scandinavian version), but I appreciate this film for the quality of its depictions of the characters, refinedness and wit. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is well plotted and its story has great potential, but Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara made for a more interesting Lisbeth than Claire Foy, and Sverrir Gudnason would be a better fit for Fifty Shades of Grey than for the role of Mikael Blomkvist. Above all, this technically well-crafted thriller is more of an action flick full of genre clichés and stereotypical one-dimensional characters than a movie with a more detailed character psychology and Scandinavian atmosphere. (11/17/2018)

If I didn't have a weakness for Lisbeth Salander and Claire Foy (and the criminally underused Vicky Krieps), I would rate this film more harshly. I don’t mind that the filmmakers have definitively turned Lisbeth it into a comic book superheroine who treats wounds with superglue, snorts a crushed amphetamine tablet to get up, can move from place to place at lightning speed and needs less time to hack the NSA than to make coffee for an ordinary mortal (Larsson’s trilogy was already headed in this direction). The problem is how they slapdashedly modified the plot to be substantially more layered with multiple perspectives taking into account (and alternating with) the work upon which it is based and the manner of storytelling. Events are connected to each other in a terribly careless and repetitive way, based on the same pattern (someone tries to kidnap/kill someone, that person is captured/escapes and around we go again). Despite signs of psychologisation (Lisbeth’s trauma due to her sister’s betrayal), the characters behave as if they are in a run-of-the-mill action film and their foolish decisions are too frequently not fatal for them due only to fortunate coincidences and magically flawless timing. The visual style, derived from Scandinavian noir and punk as well as S&M aesthetics and merely copying Fincher and Alvarez much more than the slow revealing shots evoking unease and unpleasant feelings (such as the first one after the Bond-esque opening credits), uses fast, chaotic cutting that buries the entire atmosphere. The director is apparently most “at home” during scenes with elements of horror, which make up the only aspect that is not as painfully generic and interchangeable as the rest. I would be glad to see Claire Foy again in the role of Lisbeth Salander, but not in a film that most reminds me of the feminist answer to Crank. 55% (11/05/2018)

Lisbeth Salander returns and is tasked with stealing an NSA program that its creator wants back. Unfortunately, members of a dangerous gang, who know Lisbeth better than she ever imagined, are also interested. The Girl in the Spider's Web is a lot less ambitious than the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and settles for being an entertaining, modern spy thriller with a surprising amount of good action. It's a bit sillier than David Fincher's version, but not boring in the slightest, just different. The two hours in the cinema passed quite pleasantly for me though. (11/07/2018)

Fede Alvarez, the director of the Evil Dead remake and the thriller Don't Breathe, has a go at the action genre with a well-known book and, though I would have been happier if he had stuck to horror, he doesn't put spy action thrillers to shame. I liked Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salander and she is unexpectedly deft in the action. Story-wise the film doesn't surprise that much, though there are a few plot twists, but none outright breathtaking, and the action itself is very accomplished, especially the original sniper finale enriched with elements I don't think I've seen before. The contact fights are also good. It's not as good as the Swedish trilogy or David Fincher's version, but the film didn't offend in the cinema and those who are in the mood for a spy action flick shouldn't be downright disappointed. Visually and directorially it was done to perfection. 70% (12/07/2018)

Is Lisbeth Salander the most interesting European heroine of the last decade? Maybe she is and maybe she isn't. However, watching all the attempts to adapt her stories for so many years is quite an ordeal. Noomi Rapace had the trilogy and the series, while Rooney Mara unfortunately only had the American remake of the first part, and now Claire Foy is here with the fourth (!) part. The fact that Hollywood doesn't have a second and third part is pretty funny. Personally, I'm even more amused by the fact that in Noomi Rapace's time Claire Foy was known only as Dickens' Amy Dorrit, which really doesn't make for any consistent career work. So what's next? Will there be a next time? And will any other actresses who are just now creating classic series on the BBC be starring in the fifth series? It would be magical because I long ago stopped believing in the pluses Millennium could offer anyway. And yet the potential of this material is so great. (03/31/2019)

Holy crap, what pig wrote this script? Incredibly infantile dialogue, bizarre scene development, and nonsensical behavior from virtually everyone, everywhere. From the plot itself, where for some reason ("I thought I could trust her") a programmer approaches the protagonist to steal the NSA's missile launch program, which she accepts (?), to sequences like Lisbeth not being able to think of another way to meet Blomkvist that wouldn't, for example, stop the elevators in two buildings, to dialogue like "Give me her number!" "I'll never give it to you!" "You know she's probably sleeping with other girls?" "That bitch. Here's her number." The facepalm makes almost every scene entertaining in its own right for some reason, but if I'm giving anything an above average rating, it's once again because of the proof that Alvarez still holds his own as a top genre director. The action scenes and the cinematography especially are absolutely top notch, and some scenes (the sliding camera following Lisbeth and Mikael’s fall from the window, the car vs. the forest, and the one-shot from NSA headquarters) had me holding my breath at times. And that's what these films are supposed to be about in the first place. (02/08/2019)

I haven't read David Lagercrantz's book, and I'm not going to. I'm annoyed by Americans constantly parasitizing on great works. I can get over it when it comes to film, but that’s as far as I go. I was curious to see how the creators would follow up on “Millennium,” but it turned out they didn't have the slightest problem with that. They went about it in the same way as an idiot taking a mental ability test - they shoved a square peg into a round hole. It didn’t quite fit, but the task was completed. Logic had to take a break sometimes, a few corners were cut, but I'm afraid I have seen much worse. (05/07/2019)

A fine script, but what can you do when Claire Foy doesn't even come close to brimming with the charisma of Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara. The film adaptation (both Swedish and American) of the Millennium series benefited in particular from its great cast, as well as its distinctive visual style. When you watch The Girl in the Spider's Web, you'll end up drawing those comparisons whether you like it or not, and with respect to the direction and acting, it's simply a weaker reheating of the previous films. Which sucks, because the story is very interesting. (02/23/2019)

Contemporary Hollywood really did quite something special with this sequel to the story of cult hacker Lisbeth Salander... The casting of the title role alone is highly questionable. Noomi Rapace is probably unbeatable in it, and maybe only Rooney Mara could adequately replace her a few years ago. The actor playing journalist Mikael Blomkvist probably needs no mention. It's the same thing but in pale blue. It takes a lot of self-confidence to skip the second and third parts and make a fourth. According to the mentioned facts, the result also seems to reflect that. This is a typical overseas-produced action thriller without a shred of invention, with the main characters desperately lacking in charisma. Maybe it was only the fast pace of the plot that made me finish the film. (40%) (12/07/2020)