The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2010)

It took me almost a year to finish the book. They almost doubled the number of characters but, although the names are barely mentioned here, even the most interesting become flat characters. Figuerola is nothing. The thrilling situation involving Erika Berger being stalked in her new job becomes a mere footnote. The passionate debate between Teleborian and Annika Giannini is short and tedious in the movie. Not to mention the Tom and Jerry like chase made out of the fight between Salander and Niederman... Daniel Alfredson and two screenwriters managed to turn a necessary sequel into something really hard to watch. It took me 3 nights to watch this movie. Good pick for insomniacs.

A return to form after "The Girl Who Played With Fire" fell into a bit of 'middle part of a trilogy disease'; lots of exposition and setting up for the last part, together with a feeling of marking time, that nothing can really get too resolved. Consequently both the sense of danger, and emotional impact were lower, even though there was a lot more running around, shooting, etc. It felt more like a Hollywood action film. But here we get back into deeper themes, back into Lisbeth Sander's head. There's less action, but more psychology and complex behavior, and that's where the strength of the trilogy lies. There are fight scenes, sure, but the most intense scenes are the film's courtroom battles, and it's almost as scary to think that Lisbeth may self-destruct, as that others may destroy her. Noomi Rapace does her best work of the trilogy here. We get Lisbeth's stone exterior, but there are always just enough hints of the damaged little girl she was to keep her heartbreaking. Her long but filled silences, and minimal dialogue betray how painful it is for her to even try to trust other human beings. The series theme's about the damage that men do to women comes back to the forefront, and we're less in a thriller than a character study with thrills. I still think the first film, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" felt the most gritty and real. The scope of the bad guys was less theatrical, the conspiracies more believable because they're more limited, less grandiose. But as a conclusion to the three act opera, this is pretty damn solid, and certainly stuck with me in the days after I saw it.

I decided to go all-out and give myself the full Millennium experience by watching the TV miniseries (9 hours in total) over the space of three nights. As a result, these reviews are of the extended, three-hour editions of each film rather than the condensed, theatrical two-hour versions.Let's just say that THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST doesn't disappoint. It finishes off the Millennium trilogy in an intelligent, emotionally satisfying way, drawing up all the themes and mysteries of the last two films. Great direction, great plotting, great acting, great cinematography...what's not to love?

The concluding episode of Stiegg Larrssen's trilogy of thrillers continues more in the vein of the second instalment, centring in the mysterious "Section's" efforts to frame Lisbeth Salander for the attempted murder of her father, coincidentally the Russian whose entry into Sweden they concealed back in the 70's. I must admit I struggled a little with the ever-growing cast of characters and wondering who was on whose side as it became clear that the "Millennium" staff were not going to be able to free Lisbeth on their own. I found therefore that up until the last half-hour the plot meandered more than drove forward and even if individual scenes contained suspense and excitement, too often they confused rather than clarified. That said, the final grandstanding scenes of Lisbeth's trial and her final confrontation with her hulking-ish half-brother Nieddermann are worth the wait and a fitting conclusion to an enthralling and challenging series. In Lisbeth, the taciturn, punk-ish but resourceful avenging angel, we see one of the most memorable literary and cinematic characters of recent years.The direction and acting was of the highest standard throughout in a complex and engrossing mystery which for my money has a lot to show the bigger studios in Britain and especially America in how to produce a credible and exciting contemporary thriller.