This review was originally written and published in the summer of 2010.
Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy is a literary phenomenon. The rapid speed in which the books were released and diffused all throughout the world has been remarkable, and the great quality of the first Swedish film, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” only added to that excitement.
The Swedish filmmakers answered that demand even quicker than the publishers of Larsson’s books could. The Millennium trilogy was intended to be a Swedish TV miniseries following the first film, but instead was hustled out the door as two more films so they could be released within WEEKS of one another.
After seeing “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and realizing that this trilogy would be completed within one calendar year, I speculated this had potential to be the greatest collection of three anyone had ever put out in one year since the Beatles put out three albums in 1964.
So my anticipation for “The Girl Who Played With Fire” was high, and for a while I ignored a lackluster story and poor writing that read like a TV movie for a chance to see Noomi Rapace take another stab at Lisbeth Salander.
But a TV movie is exactly what this sequel is. It’s a half-baked attempt to capitalize on a craze, and it misses the point of what made the original so compelling. Continue reading “The Girl Who Played With Fire”