Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, has made his living exposing the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with a meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls, Blomkvist immediately throws himself into the investigation.
Similar titles
Reviews
Ambitious sequel to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO about Lisbeth (Rapace) returning home to oversee unexpected but inevitable conflicts, while Mikael (Nyqvist) starts an investigation into a sex-trafficking ring. Starts off as an impressive follow-up, making all the right moves—expanding on things foreshadowed in its predecessor while at the same time introducing new characters with equally interesting stories—but eventually proves itself to be a sufferer of "the middle chapter syndrome", leaving the audience with a cliffhanger that feels more like a legal-drama season finale than its own necessary installment in an overall larger story.**½ (out of four)
The sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and second chapter in the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire does lack the brutal intensity, sinister ambiance & sustained thrills of the original and is a definite tumble down the road but thanks to another excellent input from Noomi Rapace, this sequel isn't a complete disaster.Based on Stieg Larsson's novel of the same name, The Girl Who Played with Fire continues the story of Lisbeth Salander as she finds herself accused of murdering three people & goes on the run to evade arrest. But her path once again crosses with Mikael Blomkvist, who has been looking for her and does everything he can to find her before the authorities.Directed by Daniel Alfredson, the sequel to the highly acclaimed 2009 Swedish chiller does succeed in capturing the visual style & disturbing themes of its predecessor and has a few moments to its name but for the most part, it doesn't bring anything new to the story plus only ends up doing worse with what already were the shortcomings of the first chapter.Cinematography & refined set pieces are able to recreate the visual tone of the original but the sinister vibe is definitely missing plus the story feels static at times due to the dull pace provided by its shallow editing. However, Noomi Rapace shows no loss in form and delivers yet another fabulous performance in the role of Lisbeth Salander while Michael Nyqvist as Blomkvist supports her just fine.On an overall scale, The Girl Who Played with Fire dives into the brutal backstory of Lisbeth Salander's harrowing life but it lacks the freshness, aggression & suspense of the first film, and isn't as strong a beast as expected. Nevertheless, despite its confusing plot, tedious pace & lack of a proper resolution, The Girl Who Played with Fire is a decent follow-up that will satisfy most fans of the original, if not all.
I decided to go all-out and give myself the full Millennium experience by watching the TV miniseries (9 hours in total) over the space of three nights. As a result, these reviews are of the extended, three-hour editions of each film rather than the condensed, theatrical two-hour versions.THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is a highly effective sequel that avoids the usual 'second film in a trilogy' syndrome. It's full of action and intriguing plot twists, and it takes hold of the original's storyline and builds and expands on it in a decent way.I wouldn't say it's better than the first film - it lacks the novelty of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, and it's very slightly less emotionally fulfilling - but it's nevertheless a superior piece of filmmaking. Bring on the third!
I was dying to watch the movie after I read the book, I was hoping to feel like I felt when I was reading the book and was eager to show my wife how fantastic a story could be. But the movie failed me, the characters were not as strong as the book and I couldn't relate to them at all, Lisbeth was not as talented as was in the book, I think the parts which could make her a smart hacker was excluded from the movie due to the duration, and in fact it was a big mistake, who did not read the book can not find Lisbeth a smart and talented girl. Her social behavior was not the focus of the movie and it was sad , you can not know Lisbeth just from watching the movie at all. This apply to all characters, the movie made all of them cheesy, like when Mia and Dag murdered nobody feel sad that's because their part was only around 5minute and no one knows them at all in such a short time. my conclusion is that the movie has sacrifice everything just to be out there, I Hope at least the Hollywood version could make it up to all who have read the book and expect something spectacular like the book.
