It’s a shame Stieg Larson isn’t around to see this.
His ‘Millennium trilogy’ of books have become some of the most successful books ever published. Larson; the author of the books that this series of films is based on; died in 2004. Since then, the Swedish books have become international best sellers; selling over 21 million copies in over 40 different countries.
The three books are: ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ (Or also known as: ‘Men Who Hate Women’), ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’, and ‘The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest’.
All three books were turned into swedish films; the second of which has just seen release. The third is still upcoming to Western audiences. ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ was released last year and it became the third highest grossing non-english language film in the world that year.
These books are seriously popular… and now it’s at the point where ‘Fight Club’ director David Lynch is preparing an English language remake starring Daniel Craig (‘James Bond: Casino Royale’), who will play Blomkvist. The film will also feature Rooney Mara (‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ 2010 remake) who will play the titular character: Lisbeth Salander.
I haven’t read the books that these series of films have been based upon. I did, however, really enjoy ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ irregardless of this.
I unfortunately didn’t like ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’ as much as that film.
I can only take these stories as films; and ‘Fire’ just doesn’t really hold up as a movie for me, nor does it hold up as a sequel to ‘Dragon Tattoo’. If you haven’t seen the first film, then you will not understand this one bit, and the entire film is predicated on whether you have seen the previous movie/ or read the books. It is however, reasonable, to expect you to have seen the first film, but the movie doesn’t work besides this.
The film begins when the tattooed heroine/ super hacker Lisbeth Salander becomes a fugitive after accusations of her committing a triple murder arise. Magazine editor/ super reporter Mikael Blomkvist begins an investigation in order to prove his friends’ innocence. The two get strung into a very convoluted plot that not only delves into Salander’s colorful past; but also into a seedy gritty world that blurs the lines between the media, politics and crime.
The main issue with ‘Fire’ is that it separates its main characters from one another for the majority of the film. The wonderful chemistry that Lisbeth and Blomkvist shared in film one; is non-existent in the sequel.
This film is less a character study and more a procedural crime film. It’s about uncovering the mystery, as opposed to shedding the layers of Lisbeth and Blomkvist like the first movie was. This isn’t to say that the film is devoid of characterization, it just lacks it severely in comparison with ‘Dragon Tattoo’.
There are long stretches of screen-time where Salander and Blomkvist don’t even appear on screen at all, let alone together. Salander gets her characters due though, after all it is her movie. The biggest shame is that Blomkvist gets reduced to a character that is as two dimensional as the Tin Tin cartoon he has become. In this film he has literally no arc or place in the whole film; his reduction is the root of the films problem…
In ‘Dragon Tattoo’ the two reacted off of each other; and they helped each other develop. In this film none of the characters develop at all. It’s all about the investigation and that’s it. The entire proceedings just feel cold and alienating, it feels lifeless at times. I don’t know if this is because the novel is just filled with exposition or not, but the movie felt like it was trying to cram everything plot wise into the story and ended up removing the character moments. There is a painful flashback to Salander’s past that, whilst being informative of the character, was just so unnecessary and inorganic in its relaying of backstory. Much of the film feels like this: just cramming story in to appease fans.
Besides the strange emotional disconnection and lack of participation from the main characters; the film is pretty much tonally in line with its predecessor. It doesn’t shy away from the confronting aspects and it’s gritty and dark.
It’s pretty clear that Daniel Alfredson can direct film and actors. Even though some of the film is cheesy and manipulative: for the most part it’s very well made and engaging despite the script.
I particularly enjoy the cinematography of the films and how different parts of Sweden are uniquely evoked. The score is great too. Ultimately it’s the performances that make this series so damn watchable, and like in ‘Dragon Tattoo’ Noomi Rapace, who plays Lisbeth; is just amazing. The way in which she conveys the vulnerable, loyal and traumatic qualities of the character are astonishing. Its an incredibly, incredibly complex character that she just nails. It literally requires her to bare all on film…she is just a revelation. Michael Nyqvist is fine with what little he has to do…His character really gets sidelined.
The other characters in the film are mostly not dealt with at all. They exist either to spout exposition or to further the plot. Or to have a car chase or action scene. Many of the elements of this film were a little too fantastical; like a villain who has a disease that renders him impervious to pain and whatnot.
In the end ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’ wasn’t all that bad: it had an engrossing storyline in terms of a mystery, but it just wound up shortchanging its characters for the sake of the plot. It’s a very procedural flick, it is intense and thrilling- it just doesn’t capitalize on the characters and rich world that Larson/ Alfredson created.
The film is definitely worth a watch for many reasons. It’s just unfortunately not as good as it’s predecessor. I hope that the final film ‘The Girl That Kicked The Hornets Nest’ has more in common with ‘Dragon Tattoo’ then this.
6 out of 10.
Related posts:
