11/8/18

The Girl in the Spider's Web

Ready to try again? First of all: Suspend disbelief. If you read or watched Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, set it aside and don't start nitpicking. Let's pretend this is a stand-alone thriller that features characters with whom we are familiar. Claire Foy makes a memorable Liz Salander, the unique character we know from "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

Horror/Thriller director Fede Alvarez ("Don't Breathe") collaborating with screenwriters Jay Basu and Steven Knight, keeps us on the edge of our seats as our favorite hacker goes up against government corruption and cyber spies.

Part of the cast:
  • Claire Foy ("The Crown") Lizbeth punishes men who are cruel to females, young or old. She is still a hacker, extraordinaire, who never met a security system she couldn't defeat.
  • Sylvia Hooks ("Blade Runner 2049") Camila will never forgive Liz for leaving her with their father.
  • Stephen Merchant ("Logan") Franz is concerned about a powerful program he wrote. He wants Liz to steal it back so he can destroy it, but he has relentless enemies who will have it no matter what.
  • Christopher Convery ("Gotham") August and his dad came to Stockholm from California. Now he wants to go home!
  • Cameron Britton ("Stitchers") Plague is Liz Salander's most trusted wingman.
  • Lakeith Stanfield ("Atlanta") Edwin can tell that the system his employer wants is in Stockholm. Problem is, the NSA is not welcome in Sweden, so how can he retrieve it? (But Plague recognizes his name.)
  • Synnøve Macody Lund ("Black Widows") This powerful Swedish agent tells Edwin to "go back to Disneyland!"
  • Sverrir Gudnason ("A Serious Game") Mikael Blomkvist wants to be clear, he sold the magazine, not respect. He needs to write about Liz to advance his career.
This R-rated thriller will take you from Stockholm to the forest, from government facilities to a derelict old home. Expect physical violence, gun shots, vehicular chases, blowie uppie stuff and threats of torture. There is one "Don't go in the basement!" scene, and one laugh-out-loud moment.

The screening audience was upbeat and excited as we exited the theater.
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Please see the trailer:
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