Skip to main content

The Girl in the Spider's Web -- a review


Who knew that Noomi Rapace, who first played Lisbeth Salander back in the original Swedish film trilogy of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, would one day become the “Sean Connery” of her franchise? Just like how Connery, who first played James Bond, is still considered the best Bond even after several other actors have taken over the part, Noomi Rapace may well be viewed in the same light by film fans and historians regarding Lisbeth Salander.

With the release of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, based on the superb book by David Lagercrantz (who picked up the series from the late Stieg Larsson) we now have three actresses who have played Lisbeth: Rapace, Rooney Mara (who was also good) in the 2011 remake of Dragon Tattoo, and now Claire Foy, the “queen” herself (best known from The Crown). Lisbeth is sailing along in her life as a hacker/social warrior in Sweden when she gets a special request. Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant), who created a scary new program for the American-based NSA, wants Lisbeth to steal it for him.



The program, called Fire Fall, can obtain control all of the world’s nuclear weapons and give total command to anyone using the program. Balder believes this is too dangerous a genie to set loose, regardless of who uses it, and wants it corked back in the bottle forever. Lisbeth is more than happy to steal the program (which can not be duplicated) from the NSA, but is unable to give it to Balder. Lisbeth is attacked by masked goons who abscond with the program before setting her apartment ablaze.

Running from the police, Lisbeth has no choice but to contact Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), for the first time in three years. With the Fire Fall program unable to be opened by anyone but Balder, both Lisbeth and Mikael race to find Balder and his young son before the bad guys do. While it’s based on the Spider's Web novel, using the characters, along with the basic storyline, the movie--which is tautly directed by Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe)--changes the plot in a major way, and it works.



While the literary version of Spider's Web is a more thoughtful crime thriller with Lisbeth offstage for a good portion of the book, Alvarez wisely opens up his cinematic version into a mystery/action film, complete with exciting stunt scenes in the icy Swedish backdrop, and with Lisbeth front and center all of the way. Noomi Rapace will always be the definitive Lisbeth to me, but Claire Foy still does an outstanding job here, managing to make us sympathize with Lisbeth, a character who can oftentimes be as cold as the landscape around her.

Sylvia Hoeks, who I thought was marvelous as Luv in Blade Runner 2049, turns in another memorable villain part here as Camilla Salender, Lisbeth’s fraternal twin. While it trades the deep-seated crime thriller complexity of the original Swedish films (and even David Fincher’s exemplary 2011 remake) for action film excitement, there are still enough plot twists, as well as smart, trope-bending scenarios, to raise The Girl in the Spider’s Web to another level as a more sophisticated film of its genre. It’s an enjoyable, satisfying take that succeeds in broadening Lisbeth Salender’s appeal while still keeping in place what makes her such a cool character. Recommended. --SF


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explorer From Another World

It’s Friday night during the summer in Beutter county, an idyllic farming community in Indiana, and the good folks are settling in for what should be another humdinger of an evening. Until their plans are shattered by the arrival of an Explorer From Another World! This turns out to be an alien (Gemma Sterling) who starts savagely killing people from the moment it disembarks from its flying saucer. Local kids Eddie (Colin McCorquodale), Marybeth (Sage Marchand) and Culpepper (Nolan Gay) are planning on seeing a movie, but it looks like they’ll be battling for the very survival of the human race instead! Explorer From Another World is a wonderfully done throwback to the B-movies of the 1950s and 1960s. Ably directed by Woody Edwards (who gives himself a small cameo as Hank in the sheriff’s jail cell), the film is forty five minutes long, but manages to tell its torrid but funny story very effectively in the time allotted. And the short running time tracks when you...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice -- a review

Despite coming out thirty six years after the first film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , once again directed by Tim Burton, wound up being vastly entertaining, adding lots of pleasant surprises, like the use of stop-motion animation. The sequel takes place within the same real-life time frame, with Lydia Deetz, played with wry humor by Winona Ryder, now the host of a ghost hunting show. She’s also the mother of Astrid, a teenager played by Jenna Ortega. They live with Delia Deetz (the always great Catherine O'Hara), Lydia’s step-mother and Astrid’s step-grandmother. After the death of Charles--Delia’s husband and Lydia’s father--during a bird-watching accident involving sharks, the Deetz ladies must go back up to the creepy house in Winter River, Connecticut for his funeral. This is the same place where Lydia first encountered Beetlejuice all those years ago, and she is understandably reluctant to even mention his name, lest she accidentally calls forth Beet...
Post a Comment
Read more

Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders -- a review

Holy animation,, Batman! Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders is a loving tribute to the 1960s TV series that manages to feel like the second 1960s-era Batman movie, thanks to the voice-casting of original Batman and Robin stars Adam West and Burt Ward, along with Julie Newmar, who reprises her role as Catwoman. Taking place in the same time period as the series, the film is filled with the social mores of the time, such as having Catwoman demurely step to the side whenever Batman and Robin battle the villainous henchmen (complete with the customary BIFF! BAM! and POW! word balloons the original series always flashed during the fight scenes). Catwoman is a part of a fearsome foursome of rogues that includes the Joker, Penguin and the Riddler as they set out to work together to wreak havoc on Gotham City. The fact that these villains team up, along with their use of a penguin-themed zeppelin later in the film, is a nice nod to the original 1966 Batman movie that was relea...
Post a Comment
Read more