The Girl in the Spider’s Web review — The Queen’s Claire Foy as morose, cyber punk investigator Lisbeth Salender?  Yes please!

It seems the dragon tattooed world of the fictional Lisbeth Salander is constantly depicted as a gray, grim and grimy place where words are few and smiles are fewer. Salander’s latest outing, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, is no exception. The tourism bureau of Sweden must not be fond of the films based on author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series.

Oddly enough, I am fond of the film, despite the fact that it makes the country of my forefathers look like the inside of an arctic dumpster full of rats. It has a certain bleak beauty, and although the film is relentlessly grim, there’s a stark consistency to it, as well as edgy girl power undertones, that I find intriguing.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web begins with a disturbing scene from Salander’s (Claire Foy) childhood, providing dismal insight into why she’s the sullen savant that she is, and why she will respond the way she does to occurrences that will pop up in the near future.

She will eventually be asked to save humanity from a sort of killer app. Since this is based on the second book in the trilogy, you know she doesn’t lose her life trying, but she certainly takes a beating in process.

The intrigue is in the twists, the rivalries and the ingenious getaways, but it’s also in it’s kickass female message. It’s bracing to see a woman take matters into her own hands without condescending to traditional feminine conventions.

I was unsure of whether or not Foy could handle such a darkly brutal character, but I’m happy to say she really pulls it off. She successfully makes the transition from doe eyed to steely eyed, and the extreme punishment, both physical and emotional, is believable without being overwrought.

It’s certainly not my favorite film of the season, but director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, The Evil Dead) proves he’s up to the challenge. Go Lisbeth!

Rated R

1 Hour 57 Minutes

If this The Girl in the Spider’s Web review inspires you to see it, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web review — The Queen’s Claire Foy as morose, cyber punk investigator Lisbeth Salender?  Yes please!