The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest - Review

With this release, the original "Millennium" Trilogy has ended. Except for its American DVD release and the inevitable box set, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS' NEST is the last treat for fans of the books and films until David Fincher releases his Americanized version. I do have faith with Fincher, despite my often polarizing opinion of his films, largely thanks to his recent great film THE SOCIAL NETWORK, a film that I feel is an early example for his version of the Stieg Larsson books. Let's hope that Trent Reznor comes with it as well.



Now to return to the present instead of the hopeful future. The "Millennium" films, or "The Girl" series for Americans, have already given me two opposite reactions. I adored the first film with its grandiose look and grimy feel but I nearly loathed the second with its half-baked plotting and abuse of the color orange. Thankfully, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS' NEST returns to good graces with a very fine acted and structured film. It's not as great as the first, but it delivers yet another great performance by its two main actors and brings true suspense and social injustice back to the frame.



The first film was a crime-mystery set on an island. The second was a crime-fugitive story all over Sweden. This one avoids the self-isolation and freedom in favor of governmental institution, as Lisbeth Salander is under arrest for the attempted murder of Alexander Zalachenko. As seen at the end of the previous film, Lisbeth nearly killed her enemy, who was revealed to be her father, after being shot in the head and buried alive. She is placed in strict hospital care until she is able to be transferred to jail and for court. Mikael Blomkvist is getting ready to release another massive expose through his magazine with all of the previous knowledge obtained. He wants to desperately help Lisbeth again, by continuing to search for more information and by having his sister Annika serve as her lawyer. Yet again, the existence of Lisbeth and Mikael's snooping has awakened another hidden giant of crime, as a group later dubbed "The Section" wants to erase and dissolve the trouble that has arisen. After silencing Zalachenko before he could flip, they aim their legal, paper, and gun crosshairs at the two avengers.



Continuing her great acting prowess, Noomi Rapace is the star of the show though her acting is very different from the other films. To match up with her character, Rapace dazes and closes off all her emotions from escaping during her forced isolation. Lisbeth sees the possible no-win scenario in front of her and tries any basic body tool to prolong and annoy her adversaries. Rapace follows this with statuesque stares to avoid eye to eye contact and no movement in her cheeks. This becomes too hard to contact, as once Lisbeth enters her trial in her decorative punk attire, Rapace glares sharply at her accusers. It is so focused and brutal that her black eye make-up makes it appear that her vicious anger is charring and scarring her skin. The actress also does wonders with Lisbeth's brief moments of joy, such as how she eats a specially delivered pizza or when she receives news of Zalachenko's death.



Michael Nyqvist is given more special characterization this time around, as he also adapts greatly to Mikael's fall in social manners. His continued love of journalism and being the main force of the magazine has started to erode his colleagues and his editor/lover Erika Berger (Lena Endre). Michael underscores the large arrogance Mikael has when talking to people. Once the problems pile up for Mikael and his friends move away, he further this underscoring even more. The scene where he reveals to Erika that he still plans to publish even after many attempted threats is a true heartbreaker for fans of the character but fantastic for Mr. Nyqvist. Lena Endre also deserves props as her character is more in the spotlight to great results, as does Annika Hallin as Mikael's sister. Anders Ahlborn does very well as the lecherous and vile Dr. Peter Teleborian.



Plot and direction wise, I felt this was Daniel Alfredson's apology letter for the previous film. He tries to match Niels Arden Oplev's color scheme and direction of the first film by basking the world as cold and frigid, but is unable to truly match up with the absolute bitterness Oplev implemented. Still, it is commendable and fits in with the tightly moral despair. His love of orange only comes in the lights and lamps of Stockholm, as if the only warmth in the city is artificial. He does still have some television like framing but Alfredson does deliver with some entertaining set pieces and editing. The story is almost nicely kept together though I didn't enjoy the plotline with Ronald Niedermann, the superhuman goon of Zalachenko and Lisbeth's half-brother. This stupid story seems to be included just to mention the "men treat women badly" trope again and to have a big threat to loom until the end. The final fight with him is very good with its lack of dialogue and slow horror-like blocking but it doesn't fix the problems it creates.



This final film ends with truly a great final shot. Though there is some closure among the characters, the absolute end comes with a hard long shot at Stockholm. It presents and acknowledges to the world that this popular book series and the series of films has warped the public appearance of all of Sweden. Thank you, Stieg Larsson and the various cast and crew of the films.




FINAL REVIEW: 4 / 5