Reviewed by Kate Rodger
The Girl who Played with Fire is the latest page to screen cinematic adaptation of the bestselling Millennium Trilogy, and is the second in the series after the runaway success of the first, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Here our heroine, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), is the main focus, as she stands accused of triple murder. She is drawn back into her murky past and into an increasingly tangled web of intrigue, as her friend Michael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) does everything he can to prove her innocence.
This story, spread across three volumes, has sold close to 30 million copies worldwide and has been one of the biggest literary sensations to hit the adult world in years. Its enormous popularity all but guarantees its success at the box office, and the two sequels are highly anticipated. So the fact this outing is a far inferior one to its predecessor will do little to dissuade fans from seeing it.
Both The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest have the same writers and director, a team different from the first film. That changing of the guard is immediately obvious, and not in a good way. While the condensing of the complex story is mostly okay, with all the major plot points hit, the delivery of many of the key scenes is sadly lacking in the tension and impact they need and deserve.
Thankfully, this top-class cast isn’t lacking. Rapace (Daisy Diamond) is one of the most exciting talents we’ve seen in a long time, with a gift of a character to flesh out on screen. Salander is a superwoman; strong, driven, and powerful, her flaws slowly explained and understood as the story unfolds. Well-known Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist (As in Heaven/Suddenly) inhabits the Blomkvist role as if he was born to it, his craggy unusual masculinity capable of a subtlety beyond many of his Hollywood peers.
Hollywood, of course, must remake this trilogy, with Bond, James Bond Daniel Craig announced this week in the role of Blomkvist, and David Fincher to helm. The role of Salander is yet to be filled.
The Swedish version is still here to be enjoyed, and while I am far less excited about the third, given the failings of the second, this is still a great story to be immersed in.
Three stars.
The Girl who Played with Fire
:: Director: Daniel Alfredson
:: Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Jörgen Berthage, Tanja Lorentzon, Sofia Ledarp
:: Running Time: 129 mins
:: Rating: R16 - contains violence, sexual violence, offensive language and content that may disturb
:: Release Date: July 29, 2010
:: Links: Trailer
source: newshub archive
