Review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) by Marvin B — 18 Mar 2013

The second best in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy of novels concerning the rocky relationship between journalist Mickael Blomkvist and hacker Lisbeth Salander unsurprisingly makes for the second best of the movies too. Whereas Dragon Tattoo was a character establishing self contained effort that was stunningly adapted, it's follow up. Played with Fire, was largely a rather dull set up for this installment. Hornet's Nest doesn't contain the mystery of Dragon Tattoo but does manage to deliver a fitting conclusion for the saga.

Salander has been remanded in hospital, accused with attempting to murder her father, Zalachenko after narrowly escaping death at the hands of her Hulk like half brother. Blomkvist is determined to prove her innocence and expose the corruption that has dogged her existence since she was a teenager.

There's little of the chemistry that actors Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace set up in the first film, mainly because the story calls for them to spend little time together. The film largely bypasses the fall out of Salander's unrequited feelings for Blomkvist which is a shame. It concentrates instead on the court case of Lisbeth and the treachery of those who have conspired against her. This is all fine but there's only so much enjoyment and tension that can be mined from Blomkvist's sister preparing legal papers and Salander lying in a hospital bed. For this reason the film is certainly a slow starter and at just short of two and a half hours, that's not good.

Thankfully the final hour is a nail biting courtroom thriller. Very well produced and featuring a great presence from Rapace, we keenly feel that we want justice for the character against the torment that she has endured.

Perhaps it's only to be expected that after such an amazing thriller like Dragon Tattoo that it's sequels would have a hard time equalling it. This is a very different film and perhaps a tale that doesn't lend itself to film adaptation as easily due to a lack of action. Larsson's book is a hefty tome and wisely some of the characters have been nearly trimmed. One or two moments feel like they've been rushed in the early going but that may have been inevitable to save space for such a grand final act.

These films were the gateway for Scandinavian thrillers to come pouring down from that region. They've been eclipsed by some of the TV output in recent years but this is a solid enough conclusion to good movie trilogy.