Cary Fukunaga is directing Bond 25 (IDRIS FOR BOND 2020!!!). There was a round-robin of directors circling the project after Danny Boyle left due to creative difference. I don’t know if Fede Alvarez was one of the directors in contention, but after The Girl in the Spider’s Web he should be atop the list for Bond 26 (a.k.a. Heimdall likes martinis shaken not stirred).
The Girl in the Spider’s Web is an adaptation of the 4th book in the Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium” series (written by David Lagercrantz after Larsson’s death) about renown hacker/girl who hurts men who hurts women Lisbeth Salander. Salander (Claire Foy) is framed for murder after stealing a dangerous computer program and must face her mysterious past in order to clear her name.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is now on its 3rd iteration. First, there was the amazingly intense Swedish trilogy with Noomi Rapace playing the lead role. Then, there was the disappointing stateside reboot of the 1st movie starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. The original trilogy was a fiery slow burn while the first reboot was just slow. This one is stuck somewhere in the middle due to reboot fatigue (even though it’s more of a re-casted continuation).
If you haven’t read the books or seen the previous versions, the script does not do enough to make you care. I knew about the intricate relationship between Salander, her journalist partner Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), and his co-worker Erika Berger (Vicky Krieps). I knew about Salander’s hacker counterpart Plague (Cameron Britton). I knew about the relationship that Salander has with her country after the story of the first three novels. If you are completely lost about who I am talking about or what they mean, this is exactly how you feel in the movie. As this is not the first installment of “Millenium”, there is no exposition to introduce old characters more than surface level. The new characters they do introduce are either on screen too rarely, or end up becoming walking contradictions. The one time in which you start to care about a new character comes so far into the movie that you are let down by the potential that comes too late and is over before it takes hold.
Spider’s Web's characters, story and pacing never truly are able to grab your complete interest. Director Fede Alvarez shows off amazing spy thriller sensibilities with swooping shots, intermittently pushed pace, and close quarters actions that make you feel like you are in every fight and every tech faceoff. It is a great audition for Bond 26 or even a new Bourne movie. But Lisbeth Salander is neither of those spies, and Dragon Tattoo is more bombastic than either of those series. The shaky cam in the fight scenes make you miss essential parts of the action, and the slow burning build to a crescendo was not reckless enough to match the essence of the books. This movie would be nothing more than an ill-advised attempt to turn Lisbeth into James Bond if not for Claire Foy’s great interpretation of Salander, my previous knowledge of the series, and the only new character that added to the movie’s intrigue (Lakeith Stanfield’s NSA Agent Edwin Needham).
Foy is the meticulous brutality that we expect Salander to deliver to her targets. Stanfield is what he always is: cool. Their respective performances were the threads that kept pulling you back into the film every time the script pushed you away. They would be a welcome return if given the opportunity to continue these roles in, say, a TV series. Unfortunately, The Girl in the Spider’s Web is a lackluster attempt to reinvigorate a series that has yet to recapture the spark of the original trilogy. I am giving it 6/10 electric volts to the groin (the preferred method of defense for Ms. Salander).