The Girl in The Spider's Web

       Lisbeth Salander returns in this new film based on the characters created by Stieg Larssen. Taking over the role previously played by Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara is Claire Foy, who tries hard to make the character her own. Personally I'm a big fan of Noomi Rapace, who I think really captured the character in the original Swedish trio of films.

        Ms. Foy brings an icy cool to the role but comes across as a "good girl" trying to look and act "bad". Her chemistry with Mikael Bloomkvist, this time played by Sverrir Gudnason, is nowhere as strong as it was in the previous films. Blame the screenwriters for underwriting the character. The screenplay is credited to three writers, based on the book written by David Lagercrantz , based on characters created by Mr. Larssen. It's a case of too many people trying too hard to retain the sense of the original characters, who are too removed here from the source material. The novel worked well enough continuing the original characters but the film muddies the story and characters. 

                The film co-stars LaKeith Stanfield as an NSA agent tracking Salander,  Sylvia Hoeks as Camilla Salander  and Stephen Merchant as Franz Balder, the scientist who sets the plot in motion. A plot, I have to point out, closely resembling "Skyfall", the James Bond film. It's a nice change of pace role for Mr. Stanfield, playing here very against type. Mr. Merchant, known primarily for comedy, also goes against type as the serious minded scientist.

                 The film is directed by Fede Alvarez (also one of the co-writers) and I guess it's an unwritten rule that films set in Sweden must be shot with low lighting and icy blue hues. As a stand alone film, it's not a terrible crime thriller but compared to the earlier films in the series, it's very disappointing.