The Girl in the Spider's Web

The girl with the dragon tattoo returns in the capable guise of Claire Foy in a patchy crime mystery recasting the anti-social vigilante as a female James Bond escaping every dire situation with improbable élan. Loosely based on David Lagercrantz's continuation of Stieg Larsson's original books, the story has punk hacker Lisbeth Salander hired by a conflicted quantum scientist (Stephen Merchant) to erase newly created software for the US government that identifies global nuclear arsenals. When the data is stolen from Lisbeth by the sinister Spider organisation, a web of deceit and mental distress leads to revelations about past family history. In this retread of familiar themes, director Fede Alvarez (Don't Breathe) cloaks stupid plot holes with high-velocity action, nail-biting car chases and grisly events. But it isn't enough to replace the feral intensity or eerie psychology of the acclaimed Swedish trilogy, and while an entertaining thriller, it's sadly and conspicuously simply nothing else.