Lisbeth Salander is hired by a computer programmer to steel his own program from the American government as he fears the power it gives. This sets in motion a chain of events that are uncomfortably close to home for Salander. 
First, a little background; This is the fifth time Lisbeth Salander has made it to the big screen, originally, Noomi Rapace appeared in adaptations of all three of Stieg Larsson’s novels (all 2009 – also shown in Sweden as a six part, nine hour, TV miniseries in 2010). Then Rooney Mara took the part in David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). Both versions of the first book were excellent, parts two and three, while still good, lost their way a little, as did their source material. Author, Stieg Larsson died in 2004 before the publication and immense success of the Millennium trilogy. Following this success, David Lagercrantz (whose previous books include a biography of Zlatan Ibrahimović) was commissioned to write a new trilogy, the first of these, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. 
So this brings us up to date, and asks the question, is it any good? The simple answer, yes, not bad. “A New Dragon Tattoo Story” as it is being marketed in some territories lives or dies on the casting, the filmmakers gave themselves a head start by casting Claire Foy who is nothing short of fantastic. Not exactly the character of the original trilogy, even a little more human and dare I say it warm than the previous incarnations, she is still recognisable as Salander in both look and temperament. The rest of the casting is a little distracting, while Sverrir Gudnason as Mikael Blomkvist and Vicky Krieps as Erika Berger are both very good in their respective roles, they are ten to fifteen years too young to play them. Camilla Salander (Sylvia Hoeks) is described in the books as being incredibly beautiful is buried under a tone of hair and makeup.
The plot is total nonsense, but does its job in that it gives an environment for the characters to shine. A little like The Fast and Furious franchise has morphed into Mission: Impossible, Lisbeth Salander has become equal parts Robert McCall, Simon Templar, James Bond and Jack Reacher, except, she’s a girl! Once you accept this, you can enjoy it for what it is, or should I say what it has become, a dumb, but fun thriller. The story diverges a lot from the plot of the book on which it is based, this isn’t a bad thing as the book was flawed and served Blomkvist better than Salander.
The film looks fantastic, the photography is stunning, this is nothing new for the franchise; except unlike the previous versions, it is the interiors, urban and industrial landscapes that shine, not the snow-covered vista’s. This comes as no surprise as Pedro Luque has a background in horror movies. it is helped by great production design. The direction from Fede Alvarez is relatively taught with just a little sag in the second act. Like his cinematographer Alvarez also has background in horror, it therefore comes as a surprise that he is better at the action set pieces than the tension.
I don’t expect to see this on any best of lists at the end of the year, but I also don’t think anyone should be bored by it. I hope it does well enough to get a sequel for two reasons; the second book, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye is a better story, and more importantly, I want to see more of Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salander!
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