“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” Disappoints

Release Date：Nov/9/2018
Genre：Crime/Drama/Thriller
Director：Fede Alvarez
Cast：Claire Foy、Sylvia Hoeks、Vicky Krieps、Sverrir Gudnason、Claes Bang

Viola's Rating：5.1





After seven years of waiting, aficionados of “Millennium” finally see the sequel to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Unlike the Swedish version following the sequence of the novel, the US shot the fourth volume first, which is “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”, and is released on Nov. 9^th, 2018.

Based on the novel of the same name by David Lagercrantz, instead of Stieg Larsson, the original author, who already passed away, this dramatic, criminal thriller continues focusing on the story of young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) and journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) finding themselves caught in corrupt government officials, cybercriminals and a web of spies.

Unlike the first three novels, which were written by Larsson, focusing on the cases Lisbeth and Mikael trying hard to solve, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” unlocks the mysteries of Lisbeth’s family, her past and how she and her sister were abused during their childhood. However, attributes and clues related to Lisbeth’s psychopath father are only mentioned in the feature film, no further details, such as the reasons he did so, are displayed. Therefore, the plot remains rather flat than a round story with a compelling background.

Due to the fact that the previous film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was released during Christmas holiday, its dark content wasn’t popular that it didn’t earn much box office. This is part of the reasons why fans of Salander had to wait for so long, and the crew is brand-new except the producer and production house. Instead of casting celebrated British actor Daniel Craig and American actress Rooney Mara, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” has Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason and British actress Claire Foy, who recently landed a role in “First Man”.

Although the flick is mediocre, audience can still enjoy Foy and Gudnason’s performance, especially when Foy cuts her hair short and changes her usual elegant appearance into an avant-garde, cool look.

In “The Girl with Dragon Tattoo” or any other episodes of Millennium Series, Lisbeth is a staggering hacker, but everything she does is down-to-earth and reasonable. In “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”, she is more of a James Bond figure and a womanizer, but she lacks the charisma that ordinary moviegoers will bond with. Her life is too surreal that not many people can relate to.

Even though “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” isn’t as amazing as the Swedish trilogy, it still raises awareness to some issues the author wants to point out: Female abuse, sexual assault and Stockholm’s Syndrome.

All in all, with the standard of previous works of the same series, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is disappointing, but a franchise lover might find its value.

Picture Credit: IMDb