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
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