In theory, Sony's The Girl in the Spider's Web is a prime example of the right way to do a reboot. When this project was coming together over the last year, each week seemed to add another rising star to the stacked ensemble cast. With an intriguing new Lisbeth Salander in The Crown's Claire Foy, the film also assembled the talents of Sorry to Bother You's Lakeith Stanfield, Blade Runner 2049's Sylvia Hoeks, Mindhunter's Cameron Britton, Phantom Thread's Vicky Krieps, and so many more. If you wanted to create an award for best breakout star of 2017, you could probably have a pretty good competition with just the supporting cast of this film. Plus, it was fun to imagine how acclaimed Don't Breathe director Fede Alvarez would follow up David Fincher, moving from low-budget horror to a slightly bigger realm. The point of this recap is simple- this movie should have been great.
The Girl in the Spider's Web is decidedly mediocre, and I can only wonder why. Even with so many strong pieces in place, this is just a sporadically involving thriller, one that substitutes dark distinctiveness for a generic, flavorless sheen. To clarify, I have no particular connection to Lisbeth Salander or the Millennium series, so I'm not particularly upset about the Bond-ification of this franchise (though whoever compared it to Skyfall was right on the money). At the same time, I have a clear memory of Fincher's rendition of Dragon Tattoo feeling......I don't know, dangerous? Maybe it's because I was 13 years old at the time, but something about that film and the campaign around it felt genuinely transgressive and extreme. While I was vaguely disappointed when I saw it several years later, the hype lingers anyways.
In that way, Alvarez seemed like the natural choice to pick up where Fincher left off. Remember the infamous turkey baster scene in Don't Breathe? Alvarez has a penchant for sequences that push the limits and boundaries of good taste, and he's capable of channeling an eerie atmosphere that's as icy as it is unsettling. He's unquestionably a rising star, but if I had to guess who directed The Girl in the Spider's Web with no prior knowledge whatsoever, Alvarez probably wouldn't have even come to mind. In fact, I doubt any director would have popped in my head- "generic" really sums it up nicely.
For spy movie connoisseurs, the plot will be nothing new. After avenging a group of women who were abused by a business tycoon, Lisbeth Salander (Foy) receives a call from tech genius Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant). Balder created a program called FireWall, which gives any user the ability to control a worldwide range of nuclear weapons. Now it's in the hands of Ed Needham (Stanfield) at the NSA, and Balder needs it back. Of course, Salander is more than capable of hacking the program away, but she's about to find herself in a web of unpredictable danger. A rogue organization of terrorists known as the Spiders are also pursuing FireWall, and they've sent an expert assassin (Claes Bang) to hunt her down. With a little help from journalist friend Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), Lisbeth inches closer to a showdown with Camilla (Sylvia Hoeks), the head of the Spiders and her long-lost sister.
My somewhat higher-than-usual level of snark towards the overarching feeling of blandness shouldn't lead you to believe that The Girl in the Spider's Web is a total waste. Despite slipping into a state of general sleepiness, there are a number of strong sequences that jolt the film to life. A chase scene at an airport with Lisbeth and Needham channels a playful espionage energy, standing as one of the few rare occasions where the film's imitation of the Bond formula really pays off. On a quieter note, there's a great little game of chess between Foy and young Christopher Convery, who plays Balder's genius son. I can't quite begin to understand why action movies this fall have become devoted to the trope of brilliant youngsters, but in a film that never quite works on a character or emotional level, the little moments stand out.
Individually, Alvarez and cinematographer Pedro Luque craft some impressive images. The film's random bursts of life and intermittently beautiful frames make for a weird viewing experience, one that lulls you to sleep before briefly jolting you awake. Alvarez and co-writers Jay Basu and Steven Knight even create a fine sense of camaraderie between Lisbeth and her allies, which feels like an attempt to conjure up the magic of the Mission: Impossible/recent Bond movies. It works- in bursts, at least.
Yet on a character level, this is a near-disaster. Foy has earned praise for her performance as Lisbeth, but there's no enigmatic appeal or mystery to the iconic character. Lisbeth Salander is now a blank slate- not even the re-emergence of an abused sister can do much to elicit an authentic reaction. Amazingly, Foy's Lisbeth still has more definition than basically anyone else in the movie. After such an uneasy, complicated turn in Blade Runner 2049, it's so disheartening to see Sylvia Hoeks reduced to a Bond villain stereotype, a sociopath whose evil deeds and disillusionment are never really explained. Cameron Britton is given a cringe-worthy accent for some reason, Vicky Krieps has maybe three scenes at the most, and Stanfield stretches to turn a totally one-dimensional role into something special- it's a waste of enormous talent.
Eventually, I began to feel numb to it all. The Girl in the Spider's Web is never offensive or painfully bad, but if it didn't have the Dragon Tattoo label, it would be utterly indistinguishable from a run-of-the-mill spy thriller. Everyone made fun of Sony for adding "A New Dragon Tattoo Story" to the film's official title, but can you really blame them?
It hits a series of beats with basic competence, that's undeniable. But where's the danger, where's the depth, where's the energy? Is there anything that makes this dour journey worth taking? Don't get your hopes up.
THE FINAL GRADE: C (5.5/10)
Images courtesy of Sony
The Girl in the Spider's Web is decidedly mediocre, and I can only wonder why. Even with so many strong pieces in place, this is just a sporadically involving thriller, one that substitutes dark distinctiveness for a generic, flavorless sheen. To clarify, I have no particular connection to Lisbeth Salander or the Millennium series, so I'm not particularly upset about the Bond-ification of this franchise (though whoever compared it to Skyfall was right on the money). At the same time, I have a clear memory of Fincher's rendition of Dragon Tattoo feeling......I don't know, dangerous? Maybe it's because I was 13 years old at the time, but something about that film and the campaign around it felt genuinely transgressive and extreme. While I was vaguely disappointed when I saw it several years later, the hype lingers anyways.
In that way, Alvarez seemed like the natural choice to pick up where Fincher left off. Remember the infamous turkey baster scene in Don't Breathe? Alvarez has a penchant for sequences that push the limits and boundaries of good taste, and he's capable of channeling an eerie atmosphere that's as icy as it is unsettling. He's unquestionably a rising star, but if I had to guess who directed The Girl in the Spider's Web with no prior knowledge whatsoever, Alvarez probably wouldn't have even come to mind. In fact, I doubt any director would have popped in my head- "generic" really sums it up nicely.
For spy movie connoisseurs, the plot will be nothing new. After avenging a group of women who were abused by a business tycoon, Lisbeth Salander (Foy) receives a call from tech genius Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant). Balder created a program called FireWall, which gives any user the ability to control a worldwide range of nuclear weapons. Now it's in the hands of Ed Needham (Stanfield) at the NSA, and Balder needs it back. Of course, Salander is more than capable of hacking the program away, but she's about to find herself in a web of unpredictable danger. A rogue organization of terrorists known as the Spiders are also pursuing FireWall, and they've sent an expert assassin (Claes Bang) to hunt her down. With a little help from journalist friend Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), Lisbeth inches closer to a showdown with Camilla (Sylvia Hoeks), the head of the Spiders and her long-lost sister.
My somewhat higher-than-usual level of snark towards the overarching feeling of blandness shouldn't lead you to believe that The Girl in the Spider's Web is a total waste. Despite slipping into a state of general sleepiness, there are a number of strong sequences that jolt the film to life. A chase scene at an airport with Lisbeth and Needham channels a playful espionage energy, standing as one of the few rare occasions where the film's imitation of the Bond formula really pays off. On a quieter note, there's a great little game of chess between Foy and young Christopher Convery, who plays Balder's genius son. I can't quite begin to understand why action movies this fall have become devoted to the trope of brilliant youngsters, but in a film that never quite works on a character or emotional level, the little moments stand out.
Individually, Alvarez and cinematographer Pedro Luque craft some impressive images. The film's random bursts of life and intermittently beautiful frames make for a weird viewing experience, one that lulls you to sleep before briefly jolting you awake. Alvarez and co-writers Jay Basu and Steven Knight even create a fine sense of camaraderie between Lisbeth and her allies, which feels like an attempt to conjure up the magic of the Mission: Impossible/recent Bond movies. It works- in bursts, at least.
Yet on a character level, this is a near-disaster. Foy has earned praise for her performance as Lisbeth, but there's no enigmatic appeal or mystery to the iconic character. Lisbeth Salander is now a blank slate- not even the re-emergence of an abused sister can do much to elicit an authentic reaction. Amazingly, Foy's Lisbeth still has more definition than basically anyone else in the movie. After such an uneasy, complicated turn in Blade Runner 2049, it's so disheartening to see Sylvia Hoeks reduced to a Bond villain stereotype, a sociopath whose evil deeds and disillusionment are never really explained. Cameron Britton is given a cringe-worthy accent for some reason, Vicky Krieps has maybe three scenes at the most, and Stanfield stretches to turn a totally one-dimensional role into something special- it's a waste of enormous talent.
Eventually, I began to feel numb to it all. The Girl in the Spider's Web is never offensive or painfully bad, but if it didn't have the Dragon Tattoo label, it would be utterly indistinguishable from a run-of-the-mill spy thriller. Everyone made fun of Sony for adding "A New Dragon Tattoo Story" to the film's official title, but can you really blame them?
It hits a series of beats with basic competence, that's undeniable. But where's the danger, where's the depth, where's the energy? Is there anything that makes this dour journey worth taking? Don't get your hopes up.
THE FINAL GRADE: C (5.5/10)
Images courtesy of Sony
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