The Girl in the Spider’s Web isn’t so much meant to tell a story as it is designed to launch a new property. Stieg Larsson’s posthumously published 2005 novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was essentially a cozy mystery. The 2011 American film version was distinguished by its thoughtful character sketches and its moments of unexpected intimacy. But Girl in the Spider’s Web shoots for a broader, more explosive canvas.
In the reboot, though, everything but the trauma is tossed aside—or, given the FX budget, blown up. Salander has become a kind of Batman figure, consumed by her lonely quest for justice, hunting down and punishing a string of abusive men and then disappearing into the night. In Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Salander doesn’t even fire a gun; her big action-hero moment involves swinging a golf club. Now, though, she’s suddenly a ninja superspy and an expert with firearms of all sorts, leaping from car chase to firefight like any other action hero.
Directed by Fede Álvarez. R, 117 min.
