THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB 2018 REVIEW

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The plot to this story, which may as well have been written for a Bond/Mission: Impossible flick, involves some bad guys trying to get access to a computer file that would allow them the ability to launch nuclear missiles. Our hero, Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) must stop them from getting their hands on the file, with a little assistance from a journalist and some other guy who I think was some kind of US government agent. The plot is so generic it really doesn’t matter. It’s all just an excuse to turn an edgy cool character into a standard action hero in the hopes that she’ll appeal more to a mass audience, thus increasing the chances of another money-making sequel.
Clearly I wasn’t a fan of this movie. I wanted to be. As I said I quite enjoyed the Fincher film with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. This movie however was just like any other spy thriller that we’ve seen many times before, which ultimately makes it forgettable.

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The movie wasn’t helped at all by its trailer which basically tells you the whole story, revealing a major plot twist in the process. It meant that while watching the movie most things that was meant to be interesting I’d already seen happen at least 5 or 6 times.
The movie gave me very little in the way of entertainment. Stylistically they chose to make the film very dark – visually I mean. For most of the movie it felt like I was watching characters lurking around in the shadows. Unfortunately that was a choice I personally didn’t like very much given the more commercial direction this film was going for.
I found the supporting cast to be extremely underdeveloped. It felt as if they decided that this movie was all about Salander and nobody else really mattered. I’ve heard some people say that this film almost turns her into a superhero. I can see that. She’s certain less realistic than Fincher’s version of the character. They even give her a car that could double as the Bat Mobile. The point is, because Salander has been written in this way for this film, supporting characters like the journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), and the agent, Ed Needham (Lakeith Stanfield), come across as people who I have no reason to care for. They’re just not given enough for me to attach any feelings towards. At least in Fincher’s film, when Blomkvist was played by Daniel Craig, I was rooting for him as well as Salander.

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The film wasn’t all bad however. Although I have to say that I preferred Rooney Mara in the role, I thought Foy did a pretty good job as our protagonist. Her Swedish accent may have slipped a few times, but I believe she did convey the version of the character that director Fede Alvarez was aiming for. For me it just wasn’t edgy enough.
There are a number of action sequences, most of which are very well shot. Credit to cinematographer Pedro Luque for that. There’s one scene in particular involving a car chase which I loved. It was easily my favourite sequence of the movie.
The best thing about this film however was probably the score. Roque Banos did an excellent job there.
There was also a scene I liked involving a guy in a bookmakers. Don’t want to say too much about it, but well done to either the make-up department or visual effects department for giving me the most striking image from the film.
If you’re a fan of the series then by all means go and enjoy this movie. Not without its positives; but for me the main problems with The Girl in the Spider’s Web were that it was just too generic, instantly forgettable and felt much longer than its 117 minute running time.

• Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/446807-the-girl-in-the-spider-s-web?language=en-US
• Movie Critic: AA
• Movie Rating: 6/10