LOCKED DOWN : Tuesday 11th May 2021.

'LOCKED DOWN' is an M Rated romantic comedy heist film which I saw earlier this week. Directed by Doug Liman whose prior film making credits include 'Swingers', 'The Bourne Identity', 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith', 'Edge of Tomorrow', 'American Made' and 'Chaos Walking' most recently. The screenplay was written by Steven Knight in July 2020, financed, and filmed entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic over just an eighteen day period in October 2020 for a budget of about US$3M. The film was released in the US on HBO Max in January 2021, and has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far.

And so here, Linda (Anne Hathaway) and Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic in their very cosy modern terrace house somewhere in London, sometime in the first half of 2020. They are a disgruntled couple who have agreed to go their separate ways once the lock down is over, for reasons of having grown apart after ten years together, although the stimulus for the break-up seems to rest more with Linda who has grown weary of Paxton's lack of enthusiasm, lack of focus and constant down at heal, woe is me attitude. For while Linda has climbed the corporate ladder to become the UK CEO of a very successful fashion company, Paxton has struggled to find meaningful work for the last ten years since he was arrested and charged with assault. As a result, his only work is that of a delivery driver, at which he has been furloughed because of the lock down. Paxton is forced to sell his beloved motorbike which he sees as an extension to himself, to make ends meet. 

On a Zoom call with Paxton's half-brother David (Dule Hill) and his wife Maria (Jazmyn Simon) in the US, Linda breaks the news of their pending separation, and we also learn that at some point in the recent past both Linda and Maria got it on together in a wine induced one night stand, which remains a secret between them, and which Linda would rather forget, but not so it seems on Maria's part. Linda meanwhile sets up a Zoom call with four of her UK based senior management team to advise them all that they are being terminated with immediate effect because of the economic downturn and the business being unable to sustain their positions moving forward, although in reality that decision was made pre-pandemic back in December at a company junket in Paris. 

One day while Paxton is feeling especially sorry for himself, his boss Malcolm (Ben Kingsley) calls him with the offer of three days work for £200 per day cash as a driver for high value deliveries, due to the limited number of drivers currently being available. The only catch is that Paxton will have to go under an assumed name because of his prior criminal record. He needs to make a snap decision there and then on the spot, which he does so reluctantly on the condition that Malcolm promotes him afterwards to an office based administrative role, after numerous years of dead end driving. Malcolm says that he'll have his fake security ID and name tag sent over to his home tomorrow (Wednesday) for his first collection from Selfridges on Thursday, Harvey Nichols on Friday and Harrods on Saturday. 

On Wednesday Malcolm contacts Paxton saying the he texted him his assumed name and that the security ID and name badge are on their way over. Paxton retrieves his new identity to discover that he has been given the name of Edgar Allen Poe, as was suggested by Martin (Sam Spruell) a Co-Worker of his who has spent the last seven years working in dispatch and there is absolutely no love lost between the two. Paxton is none too pleased with having to front up with the name of a famous 19th Century American poet and writer, but agrees to proceed nonetheless, surmising that todays 'kids' working security won't have heard of Edgar Allen Poe anyway. Meanwhile, Linda is on a Zoom call with her boss Guy (Ben Stiller) who is locked down in the Vermont countryside in the US together with the other CEO's from around the world. Guy offers her a new position back home in the United States to which she is taken aback and stalls her decision making process until after lock down has lifted to buy herself some time. 

Linda is tasked with clearing out her firms inventory from Harrods on Saturday evening, as there is now no-one else able to complete the task. After arriving home after his first pick up and drop off on Thursday, Paxton reveals that he has a job at Harvey Nichols on Friday and Harrods on Saturday. Linda quickly comes to the conclusion that their delivery schedules at the store overlap, and Paxton would not get past the security protocols that Linda set up three years prior when she worked there. Linda on Friday organises a call with the new Head of Security at Harrods, Michael Morgan (Stephen Merchant) who brings in her former co-worker Kate (Mindy Kaling) who paves the ways for Linda's almost uninterrupted access to the department store after hours the next day. 

Linda discloses to Paxton that there is a £3M diamond in the vault at Harrods that has been sold to an anonymous buyer, and the store keeps a duplicate on-display. That anonymous buyer Linda learns from Essien (Claes Bang) the owner of the company she works for, is a drug dealing, money laundering, probably murdering international criminal king-pin, and once the diamond is returned to a vault on New York's Wall Street will probably remain untouched and unseen by anyone for years. And so Linda and Paxton agree to take the real diamond for themselves and send the fake one to the buyer in New York City, splitting the sale between themselves and the National Health Service, three ways equally at £1M each. 

Upon making it to the famed Knightsbridge department store on Saturday evening, both under separate cover, Linda meets with former co-worker Charlotte (Lucy Boynton) at the security check in, with Paxton waiting outside to be ushered in. After some very loose checking in procedures, Linda and Paxton (Edgar Allen Poe) make their way to Harrods famed food hall which is being cleared out and closed down. There they help themselves to all the lavish ingredients for a £5K picnic up on the rooftop of the store before 7:30pm and their designated time for collection of the inventory and the diamond. 

Linda and Paxton retrieve the diamond from the vault and swap it out with the fake. However, they are confronted by Donald (Mark Gatiss), a former co-worker of Linda's she fired earlier in the week. Donald had alerted the Police after learning of Paxton's fake identity. Linda reveals their plan, and Donald agrees to lie for them, out of respect and love for Linda and being anti-establishment (especially at this time!). 

In exiting the store, a repeated message comes across the internal Public Address system for Edgar Allen Poe to return to the security gate immediately. Fearing the worst that the Police are lying in wait, the pair make a hurried dash for a security guarded rear entrance when Security Guard Mark (Marek Larwood) approaches brandishing Paxton's security ID that he left earlier at the main entrance, and promptly hands it over saying that he'll need it to gain access to Heathrow to put the diamond on the plane to New York. Linda and Paxton breathe a sigh of relief, and ride off into the night on Paxton's motorbike home via Heathrow Airport. 

The pair, who originally had planned to go their separate ways post lockdown, decide to reevaluate their relationship, now that they are each £1M better off and the burden of money woes, and both being stuck in jobs from which they gained no satisfaction, is effectively over. Then, on Paxton's birthday, the COVID lockdown is extended by another two weeks.

On the plus side 'Locked Down' works because of the chemistry and obvious good time that our two principle Actors, Hathaway and Ejiofor, clearly had during the making of this film, and watching a bunch of other A-listers phone in it via Zoom calls - Stiller, Bang, Kingsley and Merchant all adds a weight to the proceedings which should not be under estimated. The zeitgeist too is captured pretty well too with businesses shuttered, company layoffs, working from home, forced isolation, Zoom technical challenges, pot-clanging tributes, and the frustrations, anxieties and boredom of being holed up for two weeks and more in a confined space with the same person. On the down side the film really labours the ever declining relationship between Linda and Paxton during the first two-thirds, and then seems to remember that somewhere in the plot there is a diamond heist that needs to be crammed into the remaining third, and when it comes it is so underwhelmingly delivered and hurriedly conceived that it feels like an afterthought. But then I guess to write a script, get it financed and green lit, amass a cast and crew, go into production, shoot, edit and release a major motion picture in just about six months flat speaks volumes about what Director Doug Liman has been able to pull off, but also is telling as to what this film might have been given more time. It's not a great film, but it's also not that bad either.

'Locked Down' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

JOJO RABBIT : Thursday 2nd January 2020.

I finally saw the M Rated 'JOJO RABBIT' earlier this week, and this American satirical black comedy that is a send up of Nazi Germany during WWII is Directed, Co-Produced, Written and starring New Zealand's very own Taika Waititi, whose last film outing was the highly acclaimed 'Thor : Ragnarok' and before that 'The Hunt for the Wilderpeople'. This film is based on Christine Leunens's 2008 novel 'Caging Skies', and had its world Premiere showing at TIFF in early September where it won the top prize, the 'Grolsch People's Choice Award' before its wider release in the US in mid-October and in New Zealand in late October. The film has divided Critics, however, most seem to be praising the performances, the humour, the screenplay and the heart-warming story. Made for US$14M the film has so far grossed US$26M. It has so far picked up nineteen award wins and a further 99 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit, with many of those nominations still awaiting final determination.

Here lonely ten year old German lad Johannes 'Jojo' Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is living in Nazi Germany during the late stages of WWII with his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson). His father has been missing in action somewhere on the Italian front for the last two years and his older sister Inge died more recently of influenza. Jojo has an imaginary friend that he frequently speaks with, confides in and seeks advice from - a childish version of Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi).

Jojo and his best friend Yorki (Archie Yates) attend a Hitler Youth training camp for 10-14 year old boys and girls, run by Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell). When Jojo is ordered to kill a rabbit to prove himself by more senior ranking Hitler Youth members, he tries to release it and runs off crying after the other boys taunt him with the name 'Jojo Rabbit'. Following a morale boosting pep talk from Adolf, Jojo returns to his fellow young youth recruits with a new found enthusiasm and throws a Stickgrenade without permission, which bounces off a tree and explodes at his feet, leaving him with facial scars and a slight limp.

After Jojo has sufficiently recovered and is well enough to rejoin the cause, Rosie asks Klenzendorf, demoted after the incident for negligence, to make her son feel included despite his now healed but nonetheless scarred injuries. Jojo is given menial duties such as spreading propaganda material through the town, and rounding up scrap metal for the war effort.

One day, having arrived home before his mother, to an empty house, he hears noises coming form upstairs. Venturing to investigate he discovers Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie), a teenage Jewish girl and a former classmate of his sister, hiding upstairs, behind the wall of Inge's bedroom. Jojo threatens to reveal her presence to the Gestapo, but Elsa warns that she, him and his mother would be killed for harbouring her. He agrees reluctantly to keep her hidden, on the condition she reveals her 'Jew secrets' so he can write a book for Klenzendorf. Elsa plays along by making up stories about the hidden powers that all Jews possess, including growing horns when they turn 21, mind reading, sleeping upside down like bats, and their preferred foods including chocolate, cookies and bread.

Jojo continues with his interrogation of Elsa, learning she has a boyfriend called Nathan with whom she wants to reunite when the war is over and live in Paris together. Jojo forges a letter from 'Nathan' and reads it aloud to Elsa in which he states that he has found someone else and wants to split up with her. Hearing her sobbing from behind the wall, Jojo writes another letter telling her to disregard the first one. Jojo and Adolf argue, with Adolf insisting Elsa is a monster, who can't be trusted. Later, while on one of his metal collecting trips, Jojo spots his mother leaving 'free Germany' postcards around town.

Jojo is home alone one day when the Gestapo come knocking on his door, led by Captain Deertz (Stephen Merchant). Klenzendorf coincidentally arrives at the house a short time afterwards while it is being searched with his second in command, Finkel (Alfie Allen). Elsa reveals herself, making out to be Inge, and produces Inge's identification papers and confirms her birthday from memory to satisfy the Gestapo's line of questioning. They also pick up JoJo's 'Jewish Secrets' hand drawn book which Deertz thumbs through and finds it very amusing, helping to diffuse an otherwise tense situation. When they have all left Jojo is relieved, but Elsa later realises she recited Inge's wrong birth date and that Klenzendorf covered for her, but is certain the Gestapo will eventually come to realise their ruse.

Later that day, Jojo stumbles across his mother who had been hanged in the town square with three others. Devastated and distraught, he returns home and stabs Elsa in the shoulder with his standard issue Hitler Youth knife barely breaking the skin, and then breaks down sobbing. Elsa comforts him.

Later on Jojo runs into Yorki, who is now a fighting soldier, who tells him Hitler has committed suicide and that the Allies are gaining ground rapidly. Jojo encounters Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson), and offsider of Klenzendorf, arming and sacrificing children as the battle closes in around them, and she gives him a soldier's coat and a machine gun, before being killed herself. Confronted by both American and Soviet forces, the city's German stronghold collapses and they surrender. The Soviets have rounded up several captured Germans into a courtyard when Jojo stumbles in, having taking shelter until after the cease fire, and encounters a wounded Klenzendorf who tells the young lad that his mother was a good woman. He saves him by removing his German Hitler Youth coat, calling him a Jew, and spitting on him, leading the Soviet guards to drag him away. The soldiers thrust Jojo into the street and tell him to go home. He runs off as several shots are heard in the background.

Jojo returns home, and to stop Elsa from leaving as he has now developed feelings for her, tells her that Germany won the war. Realising her despair, he recites a new 'letter' from Nathan claiming that he and Jojo have figured out a way to smuggle her to Paris where they can live happily ever after. Upon hearing this, Elsa reveals that Nathan died the previous year. Jojo tells her he loves her, and she tells him she loves him in a 'little brother' kind of way. A beleaguered Adolf sporting a bloodied bullet hole through the head angrily confronts Jojo for siding with Elsa, and Jojo promptly kicks him out the window never to be seen again. Jojo takes Elsa outside, where she sees the Allies have won after witnessing American soldiers driving up and down the street flying the US flag. She slaps Jojo in the face for lying, and then they proceed to dance in the street to the sound of David Bowie's German Remix version from 1989 of 'Helden'.

There are some moments of real laugh out loud humour in 'Jojo Rabbit' just as much as there are some tender heartfelt emotional moments too, that keep the story grounded in all the horrors of WWII Nazi Germany. At its heart however, this is a black satirical comedy that demonstrates that despite the racial hatred, the indoctrination of an ideal from a very early age, and the brutality and horrors of war that love conquers all and a child can overcome adversity with acceptance and confidence. Roman Griffin Davis is perfectly cast in the role of Jojo and gives a revelatory performance, his best friend Archie Yates as Yorki does not a miss a beat in the delivery of his dead pan one liners and comedic turns and Thomasin McKenzie as Elsa is considered and even tempered in her delivery of raw emotion and satirical beats in her performance too. And as for the Director, Writer and star of the show as the imaginary man-child friend The Fuhrer, Waititi's performance is priceless ranging from the absurdest childlike actions of an eleven year old to the brutal and demanding rantings of the Adolf Hitler that we have all come to know and loathe. This is a quirky, whimsical film that only the off-beat humour of Taika Waititi could deliver that offers a breath of fresh air in this era of big action blockbusters that occupy so many of our cinemas screens these days, and is still a highly relevant story that resonates today as much as it did in 1944/45. It is easy to see why this film has divided audiences and Critics, but trust me, it is well worth the price of entry.

'Jojo Rabbit' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st March 2019.

With the Film Festival circuit now well and truly underway, following the likes of the 'Sundance Film Festival' which took place between 24th January and 3rd February, the '69th Berlin International Film Festival' which took place between 7th and 17th February, we now have the 33rd annual 'South By Southwest' (abbreviated to 'SXSW') a yearly conglomerate of film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences that takes place in mid-March in Austin, Texas, United States. It began in 1987, and has continued to grow in both scope and size every year, this year taking place between 8th and 17th March. The official website, states that 'for nine days, creatives of all stripes gather for the acclaimed SXSW Film Festival program to celebrate raw innovation and emerging talent from both behind and in front of the camera'.

This years line up includes ten World Premiers, in Narrative Feature Competition being : 'Alice' (France), 'Extra Ordinary' (Ireland), 'Go Back to China' (China, USA), 'Mickey and the Bear' (USA), 'Ms. White Light' (USA), 'Pig Hag' (USA), 'Porno' (USA), 'Saint Frances' (USA), 'South Mountain' (USA), and 'Yes God Yes' (USA).








In the Headliners section, big names and big talent grace red carpet Premiers and Gala Screenings with major and rising names from the world of cinema. Those films featured here are : 'The Beach Bum' (also getting its World Premier) with Matthew McConaughey; 'Booksmart' (World Premier) featuring Kaitlyn Dever; 'The Curse of La Llorona' (World Premier) with Linda Cardellini; 'Good Boys' (World Premier) with Jacob Tremblay; 'The Highwaymen' (World Premier) with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson; 'Long Shot' (World Premier) with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron; 'Pet Sematary' with Jason Clarke; 'Stuber (Work in Progress)' with Dave Bautista and 'Us' with Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke.

Also receiving their World Premier screening in the Narrative Spotlights section are included : 'Adopt a Highway' with Ethan Hawke; 'The Art of Self-Defence' with Jesse Eisenberg; 'The Day Shall Come' with Anna Kendrick; 'I'm Just F*cking With You' with Keir O'Donnell; 'The Peanut Butter Falcon' with Shia LaBeouf; 'Run This Town' with Damian Lewis; 'Villains' with Bill Skarsgard and 'The Wall of Mexico' with Jackson Rathbone.

You can get the whole line-up of last weeks 'SXSW' festival, and more, by visiting the website at : https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film/

This week there are four latest release movies coming to your local Odeon. We launch with a gritty crime drama starring an oft awarded Actress in an acclaimed role the likes of which we have never seen her portray before, as a downtrodden LAPD cop living on the edge and with a past, and she pulls it off with conviction. We then turn to a true story about a family with wrestling in its blood, and how the young daughter rises to stardom on the WWE circuit. Next up is another true true story transplanted from Sweden to England that sees a bunch of hapless middle aged men infiltrate a generally female led sport that takes them to the world championships, and for many of them doubtless a form of redemption too. And the week wraps up with a CGI sequel featuring an impressive voice cast and many characters you have grown up with all assembled brick by brick for your family entertainment pleasure.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'DESTROYER' (Rated MA15+) - Nicole Kidman here plays 110% against type in a much talked about role the likes of which we have never seen her play before, and, she delivers in spades. Directed by American film and television Director Karyn Kusama who's previous film making credits take in 2000's highly acclaimed debut 'Girlfight' and thereafter 'Aeon Flux', 'Jennifer's Body' and most recently in 2015 'The Invitation'. 'Destroyer' saw its World Premier screening at the Telluride Film Festival back in late August last year, saw its US release on Christmas Day, and now its gets a go in Australia this week. The film has garnered generally positive Reviews, has so far recouped just over US$2M of its US$9M production budget, and has received two award wins and another twelve nominations from around the circuit including a Golden Globe, a Satellite and an AACTA nod for Best Actress for Kidman.

As a young cop, Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) went under cover with her former partner Chris (Sebastian Stan) to infiltrate a gang in the California desert with tragic life changing consequences. Bell continues to work as a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, but feelings of bitterness and remorse leave her down trodden and overtaken by guilt. When Silas (Toby Kebbel) the leader of that gang suddenly re-emerges, Bell embarks on an obsessive quest to find his former associates, bring him to justice one way or another and finally make peace with her tortured past. Also starring Bradley Whitford and Scoot McNairy.

'FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY' (Rated M) - Stephen Merchant here Directs, Dwayne Johnson Executive Produces and stars in this biographical sports comedy drama film based on the 2012 documentary 'The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family' by Director Max Fisher, depicting the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) career of English professional wrestling personality Paige (aka Saraya-Jade Bevis). The film saw its Premier screening at this years Sundance Film Festival, went on release in the US at the end of February, cost US$11M, has so far grossed US$29M and has met with a favourable critical response. Born into a close knit wrestling family, Saraya 'Paige' Knight (Florence Pugh) and her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) are ecstatic when they are granted a once-in-a-lifetime chance to try out for the WWE. But when only Paige earns a spot in the competitive training programme, she must bid farewell to her loved ones and face the new highly contested world alone. Paige's journey forces her to dig deep and ultimately prove to the world that what makes her different is the very thing that can make her a star. Also starring Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Merchant and Dwayne Johnson.

'SWIMMING WITH MEN' (Rated M) - this British comedy offering is Directed by Oilver Parker whose previous credits include 'Othello', 'An Ideal Husband', 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 'St. Trinian's' and its sequel 'The Legend of Fritton's Gold', 'Dorian Grey', 'Johnny English Reborn' and 'Dad's Army' most recently. This film saw its Worldwide Premier at last years Edinburgh International Film Festival and went on general release in the UK in early July last year. Only now does it get a limited release in Australia. Based on the true story of a group of Swedish men who competed in the synchronised swimming world championships which was made into a 2010 documentary by Dylan Williams titled 'Men Who Swim', this film transplants the action to England and tells the story of Accountant Eric Scott (Rob Brydon) who is suffering a mid-life crisis and is trying to win back the heart and mind of his wife Heather (Jane Horrocks). This ultimately sees him finding a new purpose in his life as part of an all-male, middle-aged, amateur synchronised swimming team. Together they make a bid to compete at the unofficial Male Sync-Swimming World Championships in Milan, and doubtless take a shot at personal redemption en route. Also starring Rupert Graves, Daniel Mays, Thomas Turgoose, Jim Carter, Charlotte Riley and Adeel Akhtar.

'THE LEGO MOVIE 2 : THE SECOND PART' (Rated PG) - here we have the fourth instalment in the 'Lego Movie' franchise following 2014's 'The Lego Movie', and 2017's 'The Lego Batman Movie' and 'The Lego Ninjago Movie'. Those first three films grossed at the global Box Office the sum total of US$904M off the back of a combined production budget of US$215M. This film is a direct sequel to that earlier 2014 movie and is Directed by Mike Mitchell with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who both wrote and Directed the first film) taking Producer, Story and Screenwriter credits this time around. Here this computer animated family adventure comedy follows on from the events of the first film, in as much as the citizens of Bricksburg face a dangerous new threat when LEGO DUPLO space invaders start to wreak havoc on everything that stands in their path. The battle to defeat the enemy and restore harmony to the LEGO universe takes Emmet (voiced by Christ Pratt), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and the rest of their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds that puts their courage and their creativity to the test. Also starring the voice talents of an impressive ensemble cast that takes in Tiffany Haddish, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Jason Mamoa, Cobie Smulders, Richard Ayoade, Ralph Fiennes, Will Forte and Bruce Willis. The film cost US$99M to bring to the big screen and has so far recouped US$172M since its release Stateside in early February, and has received generally positive Reviews.

With four new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB : Tuesday 13th November 2018.

'THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB' which I saw this week, is the fourth instalment in the 'Millennium' series of novels and films. This film franchise first kicked off with the originator of the international best seller series Stieg Larsson who penned 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' and 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' - all of which were made into successful films in their native Sweden, launching the movie career of Noomi Rapace as lead character Lisbeth Salander in those first three films. In 2011, David Fincher made an American version of the first film starring Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist as an investigative journalist and occasional lover to Salander. When Stieg Larsson died in 2004 aged 50, having completed the three novels, David Lagercrantz carried the torch having penned two follow on novels so far, the first of which continues with this instalment. This time Directed by Fede Alvarez whose previous Directing credits include the 2013 version of 'Evil Dead' and  2016's 'Don't Breathe'. The film saw its Premier at the Rome Film Festival in late October, cost US$43M to make and has so far recovered US$18M, was released in Sweden at the end of October, was released here in Australia and in the US last week and has so far received generally mixed or average Reviews.

And so to the story. The film opens with the young child Lisbeth and her sister Camilla playing a game of chess on the floor of her fathers snow fortress home somewhere in the foothills of Stockholm. A servant enters the room where they play and commands that the girls go see their father in his bedroom. In making their way down the corridor, a heavily tattooed naked woman is seen walking into another room. Their father insists that the girls join him on his bed, as he unbuttons his shirt. It is clear that at this point that his intentions are far from honourable. Lisbeth hangs back as Camilla approaches her father. Lisbeth wants nothing of this and in a moment of distraction throws herself off the balcony and into a blizzard. Surviving the fall on an embankment of freshly fallen snow, the young Lisbeth is seen running off into the forest below. She chooses not to venture back to the house as long as her father remains alive.

We then fast forward twenty or so years to the present day. We are in an ultra modern apartment overlooking the Stockholm skyline. Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) is lurking in the shadows of the library, and has come to the rescue of an abused wife from her wealthy, successful and respected businessman husband, who has just beaten her bloody and is now trying to make up to her as she lays on the floor propped up against a kitchen bench. Lisbeth dressed in black with a hoodie and white make up contrasting her eyes appears as an avenging angel against the backdrop of a statue in the darkened room. Pretty quickly she has trussed the husband up in a wire lasso and has him dangling upside down from the ceiling. Meanwhile, she has hacked into his bank account and proceeds to empty it distributing his wealth in favour of his wife and child, and the two prostitutes he previously beat up, and which she plays him back on her smart phone, threatening to go public with the footage if he dare to come after her, or is wife and child ever again.

A few days later, dismissed from the National Security Agency, Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant) recruits expert hacker Lisbeth to steal 'FireFall', a computer programme that can access codes for nuclear weapons worldwide from a single device, and which he developed in the first place. He has come to realise that it's really not such a clever idea to leave FireFall unattended in the hands of the U.S. government, and so wants it destroyed. Lisbeth, using her advanced IT hacking skills is able to move the programme from the NSA's tightly guarded and high security computer vault. However, accessing the programme once it is in her possession is no easy feat, involving the answering of very cryptic questions, that we learn later on that Balders six year old savant son August (Christopher Convery) only has the answers to.

Edwin Needham (LaKeith Stanfield) is a former computer hacker of some repute and has now turned specialist techie geek for the NSA, and he traces the opening of FireFall to Stockholm. So off he jets on the next available flight. Upon landing he is picked up by the Swedish Secret Service authorities and told in no certain terms by Gabriella Grane (Synnove Macody Lund), the Deputy Director, to keep out of their business and that he has no jurisdiction other than being a tourist, and any contravention will result in his immediate deportation back from whence he came. Of course he ignores this directive immediately and goes off in search of Lisbeth.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth is living in secret in an abandoned warehouse, replete with all her computer gadgets and wizardry that enables her to hack her way into any computer system anywhere in the world with just a couple of clicks . . . a skill that more than proves its worth on multiple occasions throughout the film. Whilst relaxing in her bath however, her apartment is broken into by a group of unscrupulous masked men looking for the programme, who end up torching her digs in a ball of fire. Lisbeth, naturally survives although not unscathed, and has recorded the antagonists down to her computer located in her fire and explosion proof panic room. As for the rest of the apartment, it is well and truly torched.

As Lisbeth quickly salvages what she can from the burnt out ruins of her former abode, the Police begin to arrive to check on all the commotion. Lisbeth rides out on her motorbike and is chased along the waterfront by three Police cars in hot pursuit, but she is able to make her getaway across a frozen river.

With her computer containing the FireFall programme now in the hands of some nefarious underworld organisation, Lisbeth turns to her old friend Michael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) to get handy with some deep diving investigative work to uncover the masked perpetrators. Meanwhile she sets up covert surveillance of Balders safe house expecting that those perpetrators will eventually hunt him out wanting the access code. In the meantime, Blomkvist has traced one of the masked men through a distinctive spider tattoo, and has learned that 'The Spiders' are the secretive powerful and often violent Russian outfit behind Lisbeth's woes.

Via the covert surveillance camera placed strategically overlooking the Balder residence, Lisbeth is able to see the Russians infiltrating the household, brutally killing the guards on security duty and soon enough too Frans, taking August prisoner and setting up a drugged up Lisbeth to make it look as though she shot Frans through the head at very close range. Able to execute a fairly swift getaway, although only semi-conscious, Lisbeth recovers her senses and gives chase in an unmarked Police car. After a high speed car chase involving hand brake turns, wheel spins and jumps she eventually rescues the young lad from the clutches of them pesky no good Russians and leaves them high and dry on an elevated snow covered bridge, with Lisbeth on one side glaring at her evil long lost believed dead sister Camilla (Sylvia Hoeks).

Decamping to a secret hideaway on the outskirts of the city, Lisbeth and August make off in a hacked Lamborghini. They meet up with Blomkvist there, but within 24 hours Camilla and her Spider cohorts arrive and take back August. In the meantime, Needham has been arrested at the scene of the crime at the Balder household and Grane promptly orders that he be shipped back to 'Disneyland' post haste. Lisbeth goes to the airport to retrieve Needham from his heavy security entourage and does so by hacking into every surveillance camera, every electronic door locking device and every possible security measure to make his exit from there as easy and as fast as possible.

Arriving back afterwards with Needham safe elsewhere, Lisbeth is greeted by Camilla and her henchmen, and an unconscious Blomkvist. Once again there is a scuffle as Lisbeth and Blomkvist's lives are threatened, but she is able to escape, but not before the Spiders make off with August. With Blomkvist, Lisbeth visits Plague (Cameron Britton) a close associate of hers and a computer expert, where Needham is also holed out. Lisbeth is instantly able to trace August's location through a tracking device she planted on him earlier in the day.

Camilla and crew make for her childhood home, which now sits empty and run down. Inside, Camilla has set up camp with all the hi-tech gadgetry and computer screens necessary to unleash FireFall on an unsuspecting world. August is bound and tied in a separate room. She sneaks her way in, hacking the security cameras for Plague who is parked in his surveillance van down the road. Lisbeth makes reasonable progress through the house thwarting various bad dudes, but Camilla has anticipated her arrival and has set a trap for Lisbeth, which she falls into but not before putting up a fight.

When Lisbeth comes around she is kneeling on the floor with her hands tied behind her back, and in front of her sits August. Camilla orders Lisbeth to command August to reveal the access code to his fathers FireFall question. Seeing the situation as being hopeless and with a particularly nasty injection aimed squarely at a now also captive Blomkvist, Lisbeth says to August to release the code. And this he does, and within a few minutes FireFall goes live. Camilla then promptly wraps up Lisbeth in a black latex sack and sucks all the air out of it, so slowly suffocating her sister who by now resembles a vacuum packed bag of chicken portions. Meanwhile Needham has set up a sniper position with a high powered long range rifle and is dependant on Plague giving him the coordinates of the henchmen within the house. One by one Needham with a carefully trained eye takes out the unsuspecting henchmen through windows, walls and doors. Camilla, leaves her sister to suffocate slowly in her vacuum sealed confines, as she makes a fast exit.

Driving out of there at speed in a Maserati but with her computer at her side, Camilla believes she is in the clear, when the car hits a blinded Jan Holster (Claes Bang), Camilla's trusted accomplice and deliverer of very bad deeds. The car spins out of control, veers off the road and crashes into the trees. Lisbeth arrives having made her escape from the confines of her latex wrapping to find the driver dead, and Camilla's bloodied hand print on the back seat, but the door open and no sign of her.

Not before long Lisbeth has caught up with Camilla limping through the forest clutching her computer and bleeding heavily from her side. She veers up a rocky outcrop with the house in the distance. The pair exchange words, as tears well in both their eyes. As Lisbeth lowers her gun, Camilla throws down the computer onto the snow and steps back off the cliff edge falling to her death below. Needham arrives to find no sigh of Lisbeth, but the computer lying still in the snow. He opens the laptop to reveal a message from Lisbeth, that she has moved the FireFall programme as it is what Balder wanted. Mission : Accomplished! Needham makes good on his promise to Lisbeth for engineering his escape from the authorities by returning August safely to his mother in San Francisco.

The opening credits sequence of 'The Girl in the Spiders Web' reminded me a lot of the opening titles sequence in just about every Bond movie, which kinda set the tone for the rest of the film. Here Lisbeth Salander is a mash up of a feminine hard hitting Bond or Bourne, and a black clad superhero who gets kicked, punched, drugged, stabbed, gassed, blown up, shot at and vacuum packed but every time manages to bounce right back and kick more ass in the process. And the relative ease with which Lisbeth is able to hack into the seemingly most advanced computer systems with just a couple of clicks and faster that you can say 'computer hacker extraordinare' seems completely incongruous. The plot is repetitive in places and therefore becomes a tad predictable, but all that said Claire Foy makes for a respectable Lisbeth in her third big screen outing this year after 'Unsane' and 'First Man'. The action set pieces are delivered with imagination, but the character of Blomkvist is here sidelined as is his Millennium publication, and in penning this story the writer/screenwriters seem to have lost their way compared to the set up that Larsson so expertly and emotionally charged his character with. This is a good movie, but its not a great movie. On the strength of this instalment however, I would be easily persuaded to venture back to my local Odeon for the next Lagercrantz instalment 'The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye', which hopefully Claire Foy will return for.

'The Girl in the Spiders Web' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a  potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-