The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)

Director: Fede Alvarez
Stars: Claire Foy, Sylvia Hoeks, Lakeith Stanfield
Runtime: 117 minutes

Synopsis: Famous hacker turned vigilante Lisbeth Salander finds herself facing yet another threat. 

• Performances: 5/10

Why? They're not bad, they just pale in comparison to previous takes of the same characters. The actors, Claire Foy ahead, are all incredibly talented performers that were given poor scripts and poor character development that made their performances rather two-dimensional. The casting of these actors didn't help either. As a huge fan of Netflix's "The Crown", I couldn't shake the image of Foy as Queen Elizabeth II off my head whenever I saw her on screen, which was distracting to say the least.  

• Screenplay: 2/10

Why? Where to begin? I've watched all 4 previous movies based on Millennium novels and read all the books of that inspired them. Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite literary characters and her previous portrayals (by Rooney Mara and Noomi Rapace) did her justice to say the least. Sadly, in this installment of the series, I didn't see Lisbeth. Sure, the name stayed intact and her iconic tattoo is there, but everything else diverged from the badass vigilante I fell in love with in the books. Other than that, the script also fails to deliver a decent crime thriller as it features a weak villain, a laughable ending, thrown in characters that don't advance the plot in any way, little things that don't make a lot of sense when you start thinking about them, cheesy one liners, and boring hacking scenes deprived of  any tension whatsoever.   

• Costumes/Makeup: 4/10

Why? Just compare Rooney Mara's look in David Fincher's excellent "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and compare it to Claire Foy's design. She honestly looks like a fan cosplaying as Lisbeth in my opinion.

• Editing: 3/10

Why? The way the events unfold are edited in an incomprehensible way, and keeping track of what was going turned out to be an unnecessary challenge I was not expecting. The pacing is also dreadful, and the runtime definitely unjustified. Lots of scenes that add nothing to the story are kept in, and lots of scenes (especially the scenes involving hacking) are way too long and boring. Editing wise, it's comparable to last year's "The Snowman".

• Cinematography: 6/10

Why? The only aspect that sort of saved the film. The scenery is beautiful and lots of interesting shots caught my eye. The cinematography was good in general, even though it grew pale in the end and didn't help giving more life to the movie.

• Score/Soundtrack: 5/10

Why? It was sometimes manipulative and repetitive, but I didn't truly feel its presence and impact, positive nor negative. It felt more like an obligation rather than a way to elevate the tension for example.

FINAL GRADE: 3/10