This Movie Is Caught in a "Spider's Web"

Claire Foy in The Girl in the Spider's Web

The adventures of the brilliant hacker Lisbeth Salander in author Stieg Larsson’s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series have captivated readers all over the world. The original trilogy of novels was adapted for a trio of Swedish films starring Noomi Rapace (who was excellent as Salander) in 2009. Then David Fincher directed a dark and stylish American version of the initial book in the series in 2011. Rooney Mara played Salander for this film, which co-starred Daniel Craig. She earned an Oscar nomination for her riveting, transformative performance in the role. Despite good reviews, the film was only moderately successful at the box office. A planned sequel that was to be helmed by Fincher, and once again starring Mara and Craig in the roles of Salander and her ally and occasional lover Mikael Blomkvist, was never produced.

Then in late 2018, a new movie featuring Salander, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez, was released. The film is based on the fourth book in the series, penned by David Lagercrantz, who took over writing the novels after Larsson’s passing. In this story, Salander takes time out from her activities as a vigilante avenger aiding victimized women to help out a computer expert who created a program that can access all of the nuclear codes in the world simultaneously. He’s worried that this program, code named Firefall, will fall into the wrong hands, and asks Salander to help him steal it from the NSA. But there are others who wish to obtain Firefall, including a shadowy figure with ties to Salander’s past. Lisbeth Salander not only needs to save the day, but she’ll have to confront some dark secrets from her childhood.

The film travels along at a frenetic pace, hardly taking a breath for you to figure out what’s what and who’s who. It’s a streamlined version of the book, and some characters and situations have either been altered or dropped. The movie assumes that you’re familiar with the main characters from the previous books or film adaptations of the “Dragon Tattoo” saga. Though it’s not quite a full reboot, the movie is something of a reset which acknowledges that there have been previous Salander stories. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is briskly directed by Alvarez (who helmed the well-received 2016 thriller Don’t Breathe) but it pales in comparison to the Swedish made films and Fincher’s sole entry in the series. Claire Foy (The Crown) gives a powerful, effective performance as Salander, and compares favorably with her predecessors, but it does feel like some of the characters darker edges have been smoothed off this time around.

The film’s action is very much in the mold of a Bond or Bourne movie, with fight scenes and car chases that wouldn’t seem out of place in either of those franchises. In fact, the main titles recall Maurice Binder’s work for the Bond series, and the score by Roque Banos feels very 007-inspired. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is worth a look for the solid work of Foy as Lisbeth Salander, and actress Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049) in a key supporting role, but it’s one of those films that won’t stay in your memory too long after you’ve seen it. In a way, it feels like the movie is caught in a web of the previous adaptations of the Lisbeth Salander character, and can't quite get past the expectations set by those previous films. The movie is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as for digital download. Here’s a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKMSP9OKspQ.