The Girl in the Spider's Web Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Girl in the Spider's Web Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 8, 2019

The Girl in the Spider's Web could have easily been titled The Girl, the Director, and The Writer Who Stepped Into Really Big Shoes. Director Fede Alvarez, whose feature filmography to this point includes a remake of The Evil Dead as well as the very well received Don't Breathe, departs, but not fully, from the Horror genre to make a tonally dark Thriller based in the world of Swedish Author Stieg Larsson's acclaimed Millennium book series. Interestingly, The Girl in the Spider's Web is not sourced from one of Larsson's own works but rather characters he created, characters whose adventures have continued in works written by David Lagercrantz. This movie is based on the first of his Millennium novels. The series was previously adapted to film in its native Sweden and later in 2011 in the United States by legendary filmmaker David Fincher, who cast Rooney Mara to play the title character. For this 2018 soft reboot, Alvarez casts The Crown actress Claire Foy as protagonist Lisbeth Salander. The film amounts to little more than a rehash of stock components, a shadow of Fincher's much more complex work. Rather than layered themes and immense character depth, The Girl in the Spider's Web is instead a by-the-numbers Thriller with little working for it beyond atmosphere and Foy's performance.

Lisbeth Salander (Foy), a gifted computer hacker and a young woman more than capable of taking care of herself, finds herself in possession of "Firefall," Programmer Frans Balder's (Stephen Merchant) software originally developed for the U.S.' National Security Agency. The dangerous program allows the user to access and control the world's collective nuclear arsenal. Balder fears that the program will fall into the wrong hands, and indeed, various bad actors are in pursuit, including a now-dangerous acquaintance from Salander's youth. As she races to protect the program, she realizes that only Balder's son, the unusually gifted August (Christopher Convery), can access the program's unique and uncrackable password protections.

The Girl in the Spider's Web is a soft series reboot, taking the time to explore Salander's dark past and folding it into the danger she faces in the present. The film finds some success in exploring the character details, thanks largely to Foy's performance, but neither the core story -- the chase to acquire and unlock a very dangerous computer program -- nor the action ebbs and flows prove all that noteworthy. Alvarez's film plays like a series of careful calculations and permutations, executed to cinematic excellence but ringing hollow in most instances. There are a few good character moments, several highlight action scenes, and a fairly snazzy finale, but everything in between never gels, never invents, never asks the audience to invest all that deeply in the story. It's just so routine, right down to the desaturated and deemphasized colors. It's a perfectly serviceable film, but it's also perfectly forgettable.

The film does rise thanks to impressive work from Foy, who most recently portrayed Neil Armstrong's wife in the wonderful First Man and is best known for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in the ongoing television period drama The Crown. This is a transformative work for Foy and a total tonal shift from The Crown, both physically and emotionally. Her portrayal of a deeply wounded character, one who is consistently clad in black, wearing her emotions literally on her sleeve, is a role she melts into, and not simply because she cuts her hair, dons dark attire, and adds some piercings across her face. No, Foy uncovers the character from the inside out. Her outward appearance is important, but her inner workings are vital. Foy understands the character deeply and intimately, grasping beyond the basics of her genius and uncovering the character's soul, balancing all of the past and present components that have shaped it through the years. But the film almost doesn't seem to know what to do with the character. It's almost as if the filmmakers are trying to craft a new generation of Bond or Bourne with a fairly deep influence of Robert Langdon on the side. Maybe it's just this story's dynamics, but the character just never feels quite right, though certainly not because of Foy's work. Hopefully she will return for another go as the character in a future film that focuses more intimately on her rather than action and set pieces.

The Girl in the Spider's Web Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony's 1080p Blu-ray presentation of The Girl in the Spider's Web offers just about a best case scenario presentation for the format. Though the film is overwhelmingly dark with sparse color beyond the steely, chilly, thematically telling shades of blue, gray, and black, the image excels in handling the downturned palette with respect for the source and precision in the nuance. The tonal position translates well to Blu-ray, with accurate nuance to the various shades and pleasing appeal to the various introductions of brighter colors, particularly a pink ball cap and suitcase that are vital to a key scene in an airport later in the film. Foy's striking blue eyes are another highlight, presenting with very impressive pop in various close-ups. Texturally, the presentation excels. Those same close-ups reveal very finely rendered and highly intimate depth and detail, yielding first-rate skin texturing, clothing definition, and environmental clarity across the board through the film's variously textured locations, including rough-edged interiors and slicker and more clean and modern settings. Black level depth is vital to the tonal presentation and Sony's Blu-ray nails it. Blacks are consistent and perfectly balanced for the duration, whether nighttime blacks, shadows, or dark clothes. Skin tones can be a little pasty but that's true to filmmaker vision. No source or encode artifacts are immediately apparent. This is pretty much a perfect Blu-ray release from Sony.

The Girl in the Spider's Web Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Girl in the Spider's Web features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack which is equally adept at blaring large music and detailing action scenes as it is defining and presenting less dramatic but no less critical atmosphere. Basic office din at the magazine in chapter two, chatter and clanking keyboard keys in NSA offices in chapter three, and ambience in an airport in chapter 11 all offer positively and naturally immersive landscape details that effortlessly draw the listener into the environments in question. That airport scene is a particular highlight with some impressive blaring alarms and PA announcements that play on the fringes of feeling like there's an overhead component at work. The more aggressive sound elements are, of course, the dominant force in the film. Score is pleasing and balanced, yielding excellent stage positioning, seamless depth support, and wonderful fidelity. Gunfire is suitably prominent, particularly from a large caliber sniper rifle that plays a critical role in the film's action-packed climax. There is also impressive high yield depth to an explosion in chapter four, and the subwoofer is not shy about engaging in support of both music and effects as needed. The track is always well balanced and capable of emphasizing every sound to create a harmonious blend of light and heavy elements throughout. Dialogue clarity is strong, positioning is natural, and prioritization is faultless.

The Girl in the Spider's Web Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Girl in the Spider's Web contains a commentary track, a handful of deleted scenes, and several featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Fede Alvarez and Screenwriter Jay Basu dissect the film in full, expanding on the ideas presented in the supplements below while offering additional insights not covered in the visually based extras.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 15:36 total runtime): Included are Give Me What I Paid For, Do What You Gotta Do, You're Not Permitted Here, Our Darkest Secrets, I Lost You Again, Sisters, and Waiting For Someone. With optional commentary by Director Fede Alvarez and Screenwriter Jay Basu.
• Claire Foy: Becoming Lisbeth (1080p, 9:50): Foy discusses her connection to the character, how portraying Queen Elizabeth helped her with this part, piercings and tattoos, and more. Cast and crew further discuss her credentials, capabilities, performance, physical work, and fun on the set.
• All About the Stunts (1080p, 6:40): This short piece offers more of a cursory rather than in-depth look at a few of the movie's biggest stunts.
• Creating the World: The Making-Of (1080p, 15:59): A look back at the Fincher film, "resetting" with Spider's Web, remaining faithful to the characters, the film's settings, Alvarez's direction, the picture's visuals and tone, production design, score, and more.
• Secrets of the Salander Sisters (1080p, 4:56): A closer look at the film's two most critical characters and the actors who portray them.
• Previews (1080p, various runtimes): Additional Sony titles.

The Girl in the Spider's Web Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Claire Foy is the best part of The Girl in the Spider's Web. She's perfectly cast as Salander, though one wouldn't immediately think of her to play the part if watching The Crown. It's a credit to her skills as an actress that she so adeptly and intimately transforms, from the inside out, to play a very dark and alluring character. Unfortunately the rest of the film is fairly standard, with little dramatic value or narrative creativity in play. Alvarez capably crafts the film; it looks and feels right, but beyond Foy's work the picture is almost entirely devoid of a soul. In a sentence, it's more than watchable but almost entirely forgettable. Sony's Blu-ray delivers top-rate video and audio alongside a handful of good extras. Worth a look.