Review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) by Chris P — 08 Dec 2011

A fitting and compelling ending to the trilogy. Only Noomi Rapace can really capture the intensity, intricate personality and quiet strength of Lisbeth Salander and only Michael Nyqvist can capture the gentle energy and great kindness of Mikael Blomkvist.

I doubt the American version will hold a candle to the Swedish one. The American version will probably have lots of gratuitous sex between Salander and Blomkvist to assuage America's patriarchy.

But the Swedish trilogy understands that the focus of the story isn't the "chemistry between the two leads," but the redemption of a young woman raped and almost silenced by a group of nefarious men. The original title of Larssons' unfinished work was "Men Who Hate Women" for a reason. Americans will try to smooth over that jagged pill and comfort themselves with a heterosexual romance.

The critics seem only to like when a women is victimized, as in when Lisbeth is raped in the first film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They seem to get bored and uncomfortable when a strong, smart female actually, finally wins.

The film was fast-paced and kept me on edge. The action and drama were powerful - like an exquisite mix of "The Town" and "The Bourne Identity.".

We are likely to see this ground-breaking story neutered when the American version comes out in the December. But at least we will always have the Swedish version which depicts a young women's terrible struggle in an authentic way.

Most importantly, the books and the Swedish films will raise awareness for the women who are still raped, abused and silenced even in our highly-advanced Western society today. I can only hope that message gets through more effectively than it does now.

It is highly unfortunate that the late Larsson isn't here to see the effect of his works. I'm sure he'd have more to add to Sallander's empowering story.