Review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) by Krisstolliday14 — 18 Nov 2016

The third instalment of the Millenium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest dives further back into Lisbeth Salander's past and gives us a slight idea into why she is the way that she is. As interesting as this could be it ultimately ends up being the story's major weakness.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a fantastic movie, mainly down to the mismatched leads, their chemistry and the intriguing demeanour of one of cinema's most fascinating characters, however by picking away Salander's layers we remove that mystery that ultimately made her so great.

At the start of the movie she spends a lot of time in a hospital gown and it is only when she gets her 'superhero' moment (you know that one when you finally see Batman for the first time), dressed as the punk goth that we know, that you can breath a sigh of relief.

The story is much slower than the previous ones and it does finally ramp in when the court case of Salander's murder accusations finally kicks in. There is still tension and frights but Salander as a character doesn't drive this film like she did before.

When Blomkvist and Salander were investigating an outside case the narrative bubbles but when it shifts to closer to home the tone differs and is less appealing. The second and third instalments could be from a different trilogy apart from a couple of vital scenes.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest still has plenty to saviour. The fact it is still made on a shoestring budget despite the first film's success is remarkable and the performances are still on form however it only goes to highlight how much you will yearn to rewatch the first film again.

Long-winded, slightly messy and unevenly concluded but worth a watch solely for Salander and Rapace's once again brilliant performance.