Review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) by Satyaki M — 09 Jan 2013

The tale of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist concludes as Lisbeth is confined to a hospital bed but still the subject of investigation the ire of her psychotic half-brother.

While I find this film a fitting conclusion to one of the best thriller trilogies in recent memory, as a stand-alone film, it doesn't do much but continue the trajectory of the second installment. The villains whom we thought were vanquished return in different forms. As a result, there's nothing new added to the story or the characters, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is a good film but ultimately unnecessary. This is especially true at the very end; I won't give away any specifics, but it's enough to say that I was left wanting a more satisfying conclusion to the connection that the first two films developed between Salander and Blomkvist.

Noomi Rapace is Lisbeth Salander, the best actress for the part and a perfect embodiment of what the character projects, and the same can be said of Michael Nyqvist. I don't know if they're going to make an American remake of this film (I assume they are), but for all of Rooney Mara's talents, no one captures Salander's nihilism like Rapace.

Overall, you should see The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest to complete the trilogy, but don't expect anything approaching the first film.