Third time no charm for icon
The Girl in the Spider’s Web (15)
Much like Spider-Man and Superman, iconic character Lisbeth Salander is now on her third big screen outing.
Stockport-born Claire Foy follows in Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara’s footsteps in bringing late Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s creation to life.
But Salander is no smiling superhero, instead dishing out her own brand of violent justice against men who wrong women.
This fifth flick to feature the troubled leading lady is based on David Lagercrantz’s novel and once again sees her team up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) to take on spies, cyber-criminals and corrupt government officials.
I was a fan of the original Swedish Girl With... trilogy – while recognising it suffered from the law of diminishing returns – and David Fincher’s English language remake of the first movie.
Unfortunately, this newest effort is the weakest Salander effort yet – although it’s not without its merits.
While a long way from her grandiose turn in The Crown, Foy does a commendable job in the titular role; she lacks the commitment and grit Rapace and Mara brought to the table but she’s the embodiment of coiled rage.
While her Salander may look emotionless and cold-hearted, you can always tell there’s much more bubbling beneath the surface.
It’s a real shame, though, to see Blomkvist – an integral part to every previous film – take a back seat.
Gudnason (Borg McEnroe) is perfectly fine but when the credits roll you could be forgiven for questioning how crucial Blomkvist’s presence to the plot was.
Thankfully, Blade Runner 2049’s Sylvia Hoeks is once again on impressive villainous form as a character too good to spoil, and it was interesting to see funnyman Stephen Merchant (Frans Balder) show his acting chops.
Director Fede Alvarez – who also co-penned the script with Jay Basu and Steven Knight – helmed excellent 2016 claustrophobic thriller Don’t Breathe, which was an exercise in slowburn tension.
Only rarely does he manage to inject his latest flick with something similar, albeit he does have fun shooting bigger canvasses and wintry locations.
Spider’s Web’s cardinal sin, however, is turning the ultimate rebel and placing her in a sanitised environment with criminally predictable escapades.
The director seems to lack the conviction to really let Salander cut loose and you long for more of the stirring action sequences – including a couple of death-defying leaps – Uruguayan Alvarez proves proficient at handling.
While this reboot merits a watch, and even soars at times, Alvarez doesn’t breathe new life into Salander’s world, and I can’t help but wish Fincher and Mara had returned for a second goaround.