Movie Review: The Girl In The Spider’s Web

 
 
The Girl in the Spider’s Web opens with two young girls sitting on the floor of their room when they are beckoned to their father’s bedroom. There he sits on the edge of his bed calling his daughters to his arms, about to commit the worst crime a father could. One daughter leaps from the window to save herself. Thankfully we are not forced to witness the disgusting act, but get the message loud and clear about the abuse the girls are faced with.
 
Now an adult, Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) makes her living by in the shadows as a hired thief. She moonlights as a vigilante trying to protect women from evil men’s deeds as a form of redemption for leaving sister behind. When she takes a job to steal a program from the U.S. government it soon has her fighting for her life and will force her to face her past.
 
 

 
 
Director Fede Alvarez, the same man behind the 2016 hit Don’t Breathe and the Evil Dead reboot, does not disappoint with his latest masterpiece, a film whose background is cold, sterile, and harsh much like Lisbeth’s past. You see that not only does Lisbeth’s life transforms in the end, so does the beauty that surrounds her.
 
Claire Foy plays Lisbeth to perfection. The character may seem cold, but Foy presents Lisbeth’s warm, caring side without making us doubt her strength which is a delicate balance for female characters. Lisbeth has much more than just strength though, she is a true badass, taking on men twice her size and putting them dead in the dirt.
 
At the heart of this film adaptation of David Lagercrantz’s novel is a story of two sisters, but two very different people. One took her life into her own hands in search of a better life, now on a mission for redemption, the other who is using her pain and hatred as fuel to punish the world.
 
The action sequences are impressive, to say the least. Between driving over a half-frozen body of water, the fiery destruction of a home, fights, and well-done special effects, I was left impressed. And it was all accomplished beautifully. The film, filled with atmospheric tension is simply stunning.
 
Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, Stephen Merchant and Christopher Convery round out the cast of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, debuting on Digital on January 22, 2019, followed by its Blu-ray™ and DVD release on February 5th, from Sony Pictures. Did I mention that the Blu-ray™ has some fantastic bonus features? It does. They include a director and screenwriter Feature, eight deleted scenes, commentaries, and four behind-the-scenes featurettes.
 
This stunning, pulse-pounding, action-thriller has earned itself a score of 5 out of 5 from me.  If you haven’t seen the first installment, 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, do yourself a favor and check it out.