Taking a foreign film thats become a classic and making an Americanized version of it is no easy task. The results have either been very good with examples such as the Hong Kong masterpiece
Infernal Affairs being made into
The Departed and ending up being a superior film to it's predecessor largely thanks to Martin Scorsese helming it, and not so good examples with foreign films such as
Oldboy becoming classics and redone into a far inferior Americanized version. In the case of
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the foreign film based off a series of books by Swedish author Stieg Larson, which turned into a highly successful Swedish trilogy that later gained a cult following, was remade into the perfect Americanized version with David Fincher masterfully bringing the story to the big screen for American audiences after Sony bought the rights to the films. Both movies are not only exceptionally well done, but can literally stand on their own in terms of quality with a debate going on which version told the story better. Despite Fincher's movie being an overall success quality wise, the film didn't make as much money as the studio was hoping it would with the latter opting to make a standalone film, that draws influence from the novel with the same title. The 2018 action thriller film
The Girl In The Spider's Web was created to serve as being a soft-reboot to David Fincher's
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, while also serving as a sequel in the Americanized version of the
Dragon Tattoo series. Replacing Academy Award winner Rooney Mara in the iconic role of Lisbeth Salander is actress Claire Foy with her character fighting a mysterious organization called The Spider's, who are bent on seeking world anarchy. The end result is an unnecessary reboot and poor sequel to what's arguably a extremely well-done and near perfect American remake.
The plot for
The Girl In The Spider's Web features an all new cast and focuses on computer hacker Lisbeth (Played less effectively by Claire Foy) and maverick journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Played by Sverrir Gudnason) finding themselves being caught in a web full of cybercriminals, spies, Russian thugs and corrupt government officials to retrieve stolen access codes for nuclear weaponary. The sad part regarding the plot of this film is not that it isn't a strong enough sequel to continue the storyline from where Fincher, Daniel Craig, and Rooney Mara left it, the story presented here had potential to be a strong sequel to the 2011 remake had it been supported by the right people and the scriptwriting being more fully developed. The end result feels rushed, uninspired, and is a major let down given the potential a David Fincher
Dragon Tattoo trilogy had if he was allowed to continue his arc with the right actors and screenwriters behind it. As a soft reboot to that film,
The Girl In The Spider's Web feels unncessary and a generic attempt to bring Lisbeth's character into the arena of being a female action heroine (which shes not if anyone's seen the foreign trilogy or the American version). The new film throws out the heart of the remake as well as all the elements that made that film work, and settles for a generic action thriller, that's as exciting as watching a baked potato cook in the microwave. As a sequel, it's unworthy of being connected to the film Fincher made and becomes frustrating to watch as the filmmakers take such a large detour from the greatness of the original, as well as replacing the talented cast that made the first one so compelling to watch. Watching
The Girl In The Spider's Web, one can't help but miss the presence of Rooney Mara in the main role playing Lisbeth as well as Daniel Craig and Robin Wright Penn. What made the 2011 American remake so exceptional as a redo of the foreign film, was the total role commitment that the main actors had with playing their parts (Rooney Mara particularly), along with the fact that the film was a brutal yet a genuinely intense and captivating experience largely thanks to Fincher's masterful style of directing. Looking at the source material that he was given, Fincher was hands down the perfect choice to direct
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and knew how to bring the story to life while engaging the audience. Not only does
The Girl In The Spider's Web lack the stamp that Fincher left on his film in terms of directing, it also lacks the energy and character devotion that the actors in his film brought to the roles. Here, the audience doesn't care much about the characters including Lisbeth cause the story isn't as well executed as the previous film, and lacks the same level of character depth.
In regards to the films acting performances, the cast as a whole is uninspired and never feels like they truly want to be apart of this film other than obligation. The performances for the most part are serviceable but nothing spectacular to write home about, which is the total opposite of what Fincher's film was. Claire Foy does the best job with the material she's given, but ultimately comes across as being poorly developed as Lisbeth. Out of all the actresses that portrayed Lisbeth thus far, Foy is easily the weakest performance wise despite trying to do her best with the part. She's not a bad actress by any means but her character lacks the depth and edge Rooney Mara gave her in Fincher's film. Sverrir Gudnason is serviceable as Mikael Blomkvist, journalist for Mellennium as well as lover/partner of Lisbeth. His performance as well as his character doesn't leave the same kind of presence on screen that Craig presented in Fincher's film. Gudnason also lacks the chemistry with Foy that Mara and Craig shared together in the previous film. The same can be said towards Vicky Krieps in the role of Erika Berger, partner and lover of Blomkvists character, who was played much better by Robin Wright Penn in the 2011 movie. LaKeith Stanfield does a notable job in his supporting role as NSA (National Security Agency) security expert, whose assigned to track down Lisbeth. Sylvia Hoeks is also effective in her role as Camilla Salander, Lisbeths estranged sister, who also serves as the films main antagonist given she's the head of a major crime syndicate. She does the best job she can despite her character not being developed very well for the audience to really care about the sibling rivalry and grudge her character holds towards Lisbeth regarding their abusive father. Other supporting roles worth mentioning are Stephen Merchant as Fran's Balder, a terminated employee of the NSA and developer of a program called Firefall, which accesses the world's nuclear codes. He ends up requesting Salander's help in destroying the program he created, believing it to be too powerful for any player to have. Christopher Convery does fine as Fran's son August Balder as well as Andreja Pejic as Lisbeth's lover/partner Sofia. It's not the actors/actresses themselves that are the problem (Most if not all of the main performers are genuinely decent actors), it's the direction they received as well the poor scriptwriting that make their performances come across as being lackluster.
The main issues with the film lie within both the directing by Fede Alvarez and screenplay by Jay Basu, Steven Knight, and Alvarez as co-writer. Despite the teams noble efforts, they don't feel like they were the appropriate ones to handle this project as the script doesn't match the elaboration and craftsmanship that writer Steven Zaillian brought to the 2011 movie. In terms of directing, Alvarez ditches the dark tone and mood that Fincher established with his film, and instead opts for a more James Bond style action movie approach to it. One of the biggest mistakes the filmmakers made with the film, was turning the story into a full-blown action movie in a style similar to James Bond/
Mission Impossible, while connecting it to the previous film. This was an odd move despite the
Millennium novels having action-oriented plots, and further makes the character of Lisbeth feel awkward in this one as her character arcs usually revolve around extremely slow-paced and small scale stories. While those stories weren't the most thrilling ones in the world, her character kept the audience engaged because of the unpredictability of what she would do next. One however doesn't imagine Lisbeths character dealing with issues such as shadow terrorist organizations, stolen nuclear launch codes, dodging explosions, outrunning rogue NSA agents, committing to hallway shootouts, and becoming engaged in both supercar and motorcycle chases. Given what Fincher's movie was about in regards to her character teaming up with Craig's to find a woman, whose been missing for over 40 years, the new sudden drift into espionage style thriller territory feels totally left field. Whereas Lisbeth was presented as being a character with vulnerabilities in the previous film, she's suddenly portrayed as being a super-heroine in this film with little to no weak points. Add to that the lack of depth her character gets in this film with Alvarez eliminating her character's anti-social appearance. The parts of Alvarez's directing that do work are the beautiful Swedish scenery that's filmed, giving the movie a Bond/
Mission Impossible action style feel with Lisbeth as the main character. The films action and stunt sequences are reasonably decent and well-filmed with examples being the car chase in the films middle section involving Lisbeth as well as the bridge sequence. The films fast-pacing doesn't benefit the story as it makes everything feel rushed given the film clocks in at 115 minutes, which is significantly less than the originals 160 minute running time. The main issue with the story despite the fact that it had potential to be a good sequel to Fincher's film, is the lack of believability that it carries. Lisbeth was presented as an anti-social computer hacker, that hated everything "establishment" in the previous, now all of a sudden is saving the world and comes across as being super human like with how she's able to survive being drugged, burned, and even shot. The Bond style action that the film possessed made it hard to take seriously at times. The character of Mikael feels so out of place in this film that he essentially could've been written out of the story and it wouldn't have changed much of the films narrative given the main focus was aimed at Lisbeth's character. The subplot involving Lisbeth and her estranged sister isn't given much development and buildup for the audience to truly care about their rivalry. With
The Girl In The Spider's Web, the filmmakers trade rich character development and masterful mood setting for the action elements of the source material it draws from. The end result feels like another generic wannable Bond style action movie, that carries a female heroine in the main role. One doesn't understand how the director of the surprisingly good
Evil Dead remake can turn out something as disappointing as this.
One simply doesn't understand why David Fincher, Rooney Mara, and Daniel Craig weren't simply allowed to continue the work they started with their film as it would've certainly ended up being a much better sequel than what this turned out to be. It probably wouldn't have been as action-oriented as this film, but it would've been a much stronger movie in terms of story and characters. While
The Girl In The Spiders Web is not necessarily a terrible movie, it's also not a good one and comes across as being bland and painfully average with little to offer outside of it's well-shot action sequences. It feels like the soft reboot that absolutely no one asked for given the original managed to make a small profit and garnered several Oscar nominations, though didn't gross the absurd $500 million worldwide Sony studios was hoping for. Their refusal to fund a proper sequel with the same returning cast, writers, and director is the greatest tragedy of this film as it could've worked with the right influences behind it. Though Fincher's movie was a slow-burn in terms of pacing and character development, his skill at building steady tension while filming the slick and cold beauty of the setting made it one of the rare American remakes, that lived up to its foreign counterpart. The difference between the exceptional Swedish trilogy, Fincher's movie, and Fede's Alvarez work here is that the first two had their filmmakers artistic stamps all over them which gave them a soul, Alvarez's film lacks that stamp and feels like a rushed and ultimately poor attempt to reposition the main character for today's audiences.
The Girl In The Spiders Web to put it bluntly is a heartless, forgettable, and sad attempt to reboot a film that didn't need to be done over again in the first place, and should've been expanded on rather than forgotten. One can find many other things to do with their time other than to waste it watching such a giant misfire.
Final Verdict: If you enjoyed the Swedish
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy or even David Fincher's film, SKIP this one. It's an unworthy sequel and unnecessary reboot to that film that's insulting to fans of the source material.
No comments:
Post a Comment