Review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) by Halfwelshman — 01 Dec 2011

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest brings the Millennium trilogy to a pretty satisfying conclusion. It still doesn't quite live up to the stunning first film of the series, but is much more evenly paced and consistent in tone than the second film.

Thankfully Michael Nyqvist gets more more to do this time round, and keeps Mikael Blomkvist a well-rounded and engaging protagonist. Noomi Rapace is still a joy to watch, though she does suffer from a similar fate to Nyqvist in the previous film, that is to say, her character becomes relatively passive in terms of the overall story - this is Blomkvist's film, not Lisbeth's (so I guess the imbalance in The Girl Who Played with Fire where he was sidelined so Lisbeth could take centre-stage is redressed).

The film is never as narratively tight or quite as well-crafted as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - like the second film, Hornet's Nest's plot is a little convoluted, with narrative strands all over the place, a few of which are barely resolved by the film's finale (which, on a side note, is a little ridiculous).

That said, the film is never boring, and the 145 minute run-time flies by. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest gives the series closure, and returning director Daniel Alfredson, who took a little time to find his feet in The Girl Who Played with Fire has given the late Stieg Larsson's characters a good sendoff.