Review of The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) by Philip P — 10 Dec 2018

Itï¿ 1/2(TM)s a weird feeling walking into a movie and already having the perspective it was a mistake to make. Needless to say, there were both low expectations and very little desire to see The Girl in the Spiderï¿ 1/2(TM)s Web , but the fact director Fede Alvarez (2013ï¿ 1/2(TM)s Evil Dead, Donï¿ 1/2(TM)t Breathe) was at the helm did offer some hope.

While this new Lisbeth Salander story isnï¿ 1/2(TM)t actively bad it is a rather dim film both in terms of its aesthetic and some of the decisions both the plot and its characters make. Examples? Sure-within a single scene weï¿ 1/2(TM)re led to believe that a main child character is something of a genius and also that he wouldnï¿ 1/2(TM)t know better than to take the bait of his dead dad calling his cell phone which is of course a ploy so the bad guys can track him.

Alvarez also gets a screenwriting credit alongside Jay Basu and Steven Knight ( Locke) and while there is a sense of some symmetry, some poetry even, to the writing there simply isnï¿ 1/2(TM)t that solid hook that pulls one into the mystery of it all as a good crime thriller or murder/mystery should. There are some really brutal and fairly creative moments in terms of the many kills that happen and the sometimes extreme emphasis on the violence of those situations, but how much of this should be credited to the screenwriters and how much comes from the David Lagercrantz novel is uncertain. On the other end of things, some of the action Alvarez stages is borderline incomprehensible and Foy, for all her effort, gets to actually act in maybe one scene.

Why Sony wouldnï¿ 1/2(TM)t cut Fincherï¿ 1/2(TM)s budget in half and let him continue his franchise with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig will always be something of a mystery, but in attempting to re-boot the franchise (with only an $8 million opening weekend I think we can safely assume this franchise is dead) Sony has made a movie that was both a waste of time for them and, unfortunately, the small audience that will venture out to see it.