Movie Reaction: The Girl in the Spider's Web

Formula: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 1/2 the budget

Is it just me, or is the Lisbeth Salander saga a case of Hollywood trying to make "fetch" happen?* The book series is massively popular: a true international best seller. It seems like Hollywood thinks there's a magic element to it that is going to be box office gold, even though they keep getting evidence that the interest isn't there. After the books were made into movies in Sweden, Hollywood swooped in and tried to turn Noomi Rapace - the actress who played Lisbeth in them - into a star (Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows). In 2011, MGM and company backed up the Brinks truck and went all out, assembling a great cast and getting David Fincher to direct. They pushed what's really a pretty traditional crime drama hard as an Oscar contender, even managing to get a surprise win for editing and to net Rooney Mara her only Oscar nomination to date. Despite that support, the movie barely broke $100 million (on a $90 million budget). Studios weren't convinced that it was done though. I have to believe the horrendous The Snowman was green-lit in part on the thought that the setting of the Lisbeth Salander stories, not the characters, were the bankable element. Now, they've made another attempt at the franchise using the fourth book in the series. My guess is that they chose that book because it's from a different author (the author of the first three books died in 2004) and hasn't been made into a movie in Sweden yet.

*Please consult Mean Girls if you don't know what I mean by that.

It's hard to find a case where a sequel came 7 years after the first movie, got half the budget, and recast or replaced everyone involved in front of or behind the camera, and the movie worked better. So, it shouldn't surprise you that The Girl in the Spider's Web isn't an improvement on the 2011 film. Fincher's absence as director is most starkly felt. The Oscar-winning editing isn't on display either. Frankly, Spider's Web isn't trying to be as cool. Remember the 2011 movie's red band trailer? That was cool. It got me pumped for the movie despite having no idea what it was.

The Girl in the Spider's Web isn't bad though. However, It is safer. It looks a lot more like a major studio film and isn't nearly as edgy. The big bet is that Claire Foy is a star. And, in terms of talent, she is. There is nothing I've seen her in that she doesn't make significantly better, including this movie. With three movies this year and an Emmy win for The Crown, she's on her way. She's still looking for her big movie though. Her take on Lisbeth is different than Rooney Mara's. Less of a physical transformation. She plays into the action movie star direction this movie takes. Much like her Queen Elizabeth, it's a measured performance. Even when she's rattled, she masks it everywhere but in her eyes.

Her supporting cast isn't as packed with A-list talent, but it included a lot of people I like. Lakeith Stanfield has a smooth delivery that I love watching. I can take him seriously and laugh at him without one taking away from the other. I think the defining trend of 2018 is that if a star from Atlanta is in a movie, then it's worth watching. Sylvia Hoeks is a fine villain; broad in a James Bond-y way. I wish Vicky Krieps had a bigger role. She was so good in Phantom Thread, that I want to see her with more and bigger roles.

The trailers have already covered everything in the story that you need to know. The movie starts with her giving a little vigilante justice to remind or reintroduce audiences to her character and what she's about. It then moves to a convoluted story that boils down to Lisbeth having a long-lost sister who is now the head of a criminal syndicate that Lisbeth is trying to stop. It's really a martini and, ironically enough, a Daniel Craig away from being a Bond movie.

Honestly, I don't remember much about the 2011 movie. I don't think it was as straight-forward an action movie (maybe "crime thriller" is the better term) as The Girl in the Spider's Web. In this, Lisbeth is treated as an infallible bad ass. She's James Bond if he was also the world's best hacker. Once I accepted that it's the kind of movie where Lisbeth can go from knocked out on heavy drugs to driving in a high speed chase in a ten minute period, I enjoyed the movie plenty. It certainly doesn't have the aspirations of the first movie. Based on the box office returns, I doubt it's getting a sequel. If Claire Foy does don the dragon tattoo again though, I wouldn't mind.

One Last Thought: I wasn't sure where else to fit this in. I think the biggest indicator of the change from 2011 to 2018 is the nudity. I remember there being a frankness to it Mara's nudity in 2011. Part of the appeal of Lisbeth was that she truly didnt' give a fuck. Claire Foy doesn't get naked in this, which is fine. It's her prerogative. But there's something about the way that this movie showed as much as it could without going all the way that indicates they were going for a softer R-rating. PG-13 is dying, so they weren't going to push it that far. But the focus wasn't going to be on Lisbeth's edgier traits. She's just a super-hacker.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend