The Girl in the Spider's Web Movie Review - This one lacks mystique

The Girl in the Spider's Web
U/A: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director: Fede Alvarez
Cast: Claire Foy, Sylvia Hoeks, Lakeith Stanfield
Rating:

The Milllenium trilogy, authored by Stieg Larsson was adapted into 3 Swedish movies (with Naomi Rapace) that were true to their source material and provided all the thrills, mystery and adventure that any fan would expect. Hollywood though hasn't measured up. They tried to remake 'The girl with the Dragon Tattoo' with David Fincher Helming it and adding Daniel Craig to the Star list but it failed to rouse the Box-office. So the other two books in the trilogy were spared the ignominy of a sloppy adaptation. This one though sets its agenda to a composite adaptation derived by David Largercrantz, the writer of the 4th novel in the series. It's an all-out action spectacle and has a few thrilling moments but there's no soul to it. The pace is definitely hotter out here but there's not much depth in the telling. There's not much of a dark mystery to investigate and even the fancy action sequences fail to leave an imprint.

Lizbeth is a hacker first and foremost and when she is offered a seemingly impossible job by former NSA employee Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant), she takes it on. But things do not go as planned. Fede Alvarez's mix of steady and hand held camerawork is smooth and inviting while Claire Foy's central performance as Lizbeth Salander is definitively balanced.

Watch the trailer here:

Alvarez's dark action imagery lends worth to the exercise. Even Sylvia Hoeks plays villain with juicy efficiency. Most of the written word appears to have made way for car chases and fights in a rather hackneyed action movie where no one stands out or is even half-way interesting.

There's absolutely no tension in the telling. The narrative leans to the implausible and the plot points are clumsily put together. If you are an action junkie then this may interest you otherwise just leave it alone!

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