If you’ve read The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson or have seen the first two movies in this series, then you won’t be disappointed with “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” However, be aware that this movie isn’t a stand-alone film. It begins where the second one, “The Girl Who Played with Fire,” ends. And although Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is either in a hospital bed or locked up in prison for two-thirds of the narrative, director Daniel Alfredson does a fairly good job of keeping the tension ratched up and our attention engaged. While Lisbeth is locked up, it falls to Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) to do much of the investigation that will ultimately assist Lisbeth when she goes to trial. As before, Noomi Rapace is the real reason to see these movies. Her Lisbeth is truly an original creation, an uncommunicative mix of rage and lethal menace with nose ring, chains and tattoos. The central weakness of this third film is that there’s a lot of exposition as Larsson expands his story to involve a sinister government agency.
The movie opens with Lisbeth, covered in blood, headed for the ER. Her wounds were inflicted by a half-brother she didn’t know she had. A white-haired giant of a man, Niedermann feels no pain, literally, but every time he’s on screen you know someone is going to die. As soon as she heals, Lisbeth is set to stand trial for three murders she did not commit. Blomkvist is dedicated to proving her innocence in the court of public opinion, publishing all of his evidence in an edition of Millennium magazine. A shadowy group of aging men with too much power will do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen. Anyone who has read Larsson’s novels will marvel at the filmmakers’’ ability to distill the complicated plot and tie up loose ends. Meanwhile, director David Fincher, with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig as Lisbeth and Blomkvist, will present the English-language version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” in December 2011. I hope it’s good, but no one will be as good as Rapace. Subtitles. 10/29/10
1 comment:
Even though this Swedish film is subtitled and this factor will keep some folks away this is a fine movie. This is just the kind of mistery I like. I also like the fact that all tjhe bad guys get caught especially the truly evil people. Good film, go see it!!
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