User reviews

Ben Kingsley plays an aging Israeli agent investigating a company suspected of selling chemical weapons in this spy thriller.

"Spider in the Web" is slow and talky; and though it delivers a couple of good twists, the unfortunate result is that you wind up thinking how much more you'd prefer to be reading this kind of story, that's been told many times in spy novels, than instead of watching this tedious exercise. But the saving grace is Kingsley, who can do this sort of thing in his sleep but never gives the appearance that he's doing so.

Conclusion - This movie is slow and boring but Kingsley, who's always at his best is the only reason to watch it... Rated this 6/10

I don't know if if they cut too much or there were too many "fill in the blanks".

I don't watch many Israeli spy movies so I found it hard to follow.

I had high hopes so it disappointing.

The message at the beginning states "Based on real events"; I really cannot believe events so absurd and forced could ever happen. This is another Mossad movie where agents are incredible bland with everybody but themselves. Where forced and basically unrealistic setups are used in order to obtain information but at the end things solved just miraculously. A great actress as Monica Belucci is basically unused here. An outstanding actor as Kingsley has to carry a character that too boring and to be bland to be realistic. The rest of the cast simply cannot act. The story starts interesting for the first minutes; but then expends almost two hours in father / son relationship or on love story; both of them unnecessary an unrealistic and completely boring. When the not so unexpected ending comes; it is almost impossible to believe a bunch of incredible smart people were played for fools. Do not waste your time it is pretty stupid and worthless.

1 hour and 53 mins of blah blahhh blahhh. Wow, what were the writers thinking? As a fan of Ben Kingsley, all the useless, boring and unnecessary dialogue they gave him, made even him unbearable. I guess the producers never heard of editing a film down with proper pacing to make it viewable. This should be a 1 star from me, but all 3/10 go to Ben Kingsley and the fairly decent directing and cinematography.

This is the genre that usually wins me over just because of the genre. Oh my goodness I gave this show like 5 opportunities to get going and it never delivered. Please save your Promo code/ stream/ your $1.75/ or your time, and skip this one. It sounds soooo good... we'll... it's the complete opposite. Stopped it after an hour and returned without finishing. Acting, scene flow, everything, F.

Seriously, is there some giant hole in his pocket to explain that he has been in nothing but pure garbage the past five years?

If I'm ever on Death Row on my final day - I want to watch this movie to the end.

I couldn't make it to the end in freedom!!

It will make me seem like I lived a few extra years!

I blew out of it - seriously I tried but I couldn't make it!

If anyone knows how it ended please let me know!

Thanks!

John

Not exactly a thriller, more a drama with a lot of talkie scenes and a couple of "exciting" set pieces. Shame really as Ben Kingsley is good as the main character. Monica Belucci is hardly used which is a mistake, as she would've made the film more watchable. For a film which is about Mossad and Syria, it's sadly pondersome.

When I looked at the rating of the movie I almost didn't watch it. Luckily I distrust the ratings these days. I'm so happy I do. This is a rare find of a movie. I think one should focus on it being a spy drama. It is not a thriller. Not that it does not have its thrilling moments. The movie is about an end-of-the-road spy and a youngster that has to shadow him. And herein lies the brilliance of the movie. Using relationships and not technology, using common sense and not apps. There is much to glean from the rich experience of the old spy. The pace is perfect. There are reminiscences and emotions, moments of style and moments of sadness. It's all there. This is more like a good old spy novel than a genre movie. And frankly, the genre has little to offer. Which is why Daniel Craig's Bond rebuilt the fading franchise. Almost no gadgets. The story develops and the suspense is well-tuned. For those who "couldn't get to the end", well, your loss. It has a wonderful twist that I for one didn't see coming. Kingley makes the movie. What a giant of acting. And Monica Belucci almost renders the same impact as a Sophia Loren. What a dame! Itay Tiran is someone to keep an eye on. Well, I loved the movie. Every bit of it. But then, I watched the first Star Wars in the cinema and thought that it was the most incredible thing I ever saw. That's when Michael Bay was 12.

Not because its a good film or agood plot or a complete spy story as we grew up with in the 1980s, 1990s and the start of this century. no, ben is just simply the slick, eloquent, wellspoken and as usual iconic bawled headed eagle of silverscreen stardome, that awoke in my early movie theater seat , with his lead role as ghandi in the film ghandi that were acclaimed up to the stars and to infinity( a film that norwegian school boards found so groundbreaking, they made it compulsary to watch, and in buses we were shuffled to see this nearly 3 hour slow paced story about indias fiht for independence. as a middle schooler i was far too young for bald heads and cast-system).

its a spy movie, with lots of espionage and counterespionage, mossad,cia,mi-summasummarum or whatever and so on. a jumping jack of a story, that murders here and hugs there, and with fast shifting locations due to easy passing borders in the eu, and small distances between the metropolises of the lower countries, and its defeat and betrayal at all levels, even the two lead carachters the eagle and the finch has a fight in the end.

so the grumpy old man thinks its just one of them mediocre attempts to make a new generation of spy game movies, not with an amazing success this time, but ben is good. a grumpy recommend in the end.

It was really boring that I had to stop from watching it around after 40 minutes.....I tried but the story's pacing was too slow , it was really painful to come to a conclusion...

overall, not a good movie...

I cannot for the life of me understand how thenidea of this movie even came to mind

What a waste of live!

I know it has been said by others but an extremely boring movie made even worse by the arrogance of the lead actor.

Long drawn out dialogues with no action whatsoever - unless you consider dialogue action. I am not sure what possessed Ben Kingsley to star in this mind numbingly boring movie - he could have done something more productive with his time such as mowing his lawn or cleaning his pool.

Boring,boring,boring...Nothing else to say...4 stars just because of Ben Kingsley...

If you do not like old school spy movies this one is not for you, if you do like them, then you will love it. Pros; The story is good and based on true events, the acting is great, the characters are well developed and there're is character depth. Cons: There were too many static scenes, I assume due to limited budget. The twist towards the end of the movie should be brought up 15 minutes earlier, as the closing scenes unfolded too fast compared to the overall pace of the movie, they could be further developed on the account of earlier stretched scenes. The directing and post-production/editing could have done much better. The same goes for music and sound effects which were not there. In a nut shell it is good but it could be a GREAT movie. A great spy movie on tight budget needs at least good editing and excellent sound and music. I enjoyed it but the mass public wont.

Boredom invades us from the beginning and never lets us down until the end. Ben Kingsley believes in it and shows too much pretension, it's unbearable.

I enjoyed this movie, good acting, good story. Slow as it was supposed to be. Not for everybody indeed.

Don't trust the bad ratings, above all those who wrote... awful! They mirrored themselves.

Enjoy!

I am a bit of a sucker for thrillers in general and spy things are nice too. Like this one. Even though it is muddled ... but the cast makes up for it a bit. Really well acted, even through some of the hurdles we see. Predictable but with the central performance of Sir Ben Kingsley also quite grounded.

If you like a bit of guessing, being torn about a character and not entirely sure what his motives are (even if you know as said where it's and he's heading), this may be for you. But I get that many feel the movie has not the power it could have and is misleading in some ways ... then again, who says that wasn't the intention?

I had to force myself to continue watching, thinking it will become better. Went only halfway!

Monica Bellucci and Ben Kingsley are two very fine acting talents, I don't know why they give such a wooden performance. What's really strange is that they act in similar manners, sort of strangely speaking in an unusual rhythm. My guess is that everyone else in the movie spoke Hebrew and they're the only ones who didn't and the direction was done in Hebrew and translated badly.

It bears the hallmarks of an underdeveloped entertainment industry. Many parts reminded me of the worst done moments in 'False Flag', another Israeli production, although that was better by several dozen factors. Basically, avoid watching this if you can. It's not worth the two hours of your life it takes and never gives back.