THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB

* * * (Don) * * * ½

(Joyce)

(Action adventure)

What? Joyce scored an action/adventure movie higher than Don?

There's a simple explanation: Joyce is smarter than Don. She figured out the convoluted plot and wasn't as confused at times. (So she says!) Except for trying to figure out who is who and what is going on, the movie is filled with exciting chases, beautiful, snowy Swedish scenes, interesting characters, and yet another take on female empowerment.

Claire Foy, fresh off a role as a sweet little astronaut's wife, plays a tough, determined vigilante who, in the opening scene, tortures a wife abuser relentlessly.

The backstory shows a pair of loving sisters abused by their father. Lisbeth (Foy) escapes by jumping out a window to the snow below, leaving her sister to fend for herself.

The story is both familiar and complicated. The bad guys are after some electronic device that will cause world chaos. Lisbeth is both the chaser and the chasee (is there such a word?), setting up some great chases over bridges, frozen lakes, winding roads and through the streets of Stockholm. A little boy holds the key to the device, and of course he is kidnapped. Also involved are an American government agent and a journalist, but it is Lisbeth who does the heavy lifting.

And then you learn who is in charge of the bad guys, and it's a fight to the finish. Of course, Joyce had that figured out early in the movie.

Sub-titled "A New Dragon Tattoo Story,” The Girl in the Spider's Web is pure entertainment and adventure.

Rated R with lots of violence, some profanity, a bit of nudity and sex.