Stieg Larsson‘s Millenium Trilogy comes to an end with The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) was first introduced to us in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and the audience got to know her and her family in The Girl Who Played With Fire. Now, in the third and final film, it picks up where Fire left off with Lisbeth in a coma with a bullet wound to her head.
And it may be better to stay in the coma than wake up out of it because if she does then she will stand trial for three murders. But her friend, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), journalist and editor of the magazine Millenium, will do everything he can to prove her innocence and to bring down the people who have caused so much violence and suffering to Lisbeth and others alike.
This trilogy has been great, but nothing is as shocking or interesting as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The first film was gritty and raw, and everything was just being introduced. It was fresh and new for all of us. But by the time we get to Hornet’s Nest, the actors know their characters and still do a terrific job, but we are familiar with the characters and the environment they live in.
The only other pleasure is finding out the mystery of Lisbeth and who she is, but most of that was done in Played With Fire. So everything has to be wrapped up in Hornet’s Nest, which turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Now there is a feeling of accomplishment when the folks of authority finally get what they deserve. However, the rest of the film is slow and does not pack as much of a punch as the other two films, especially like the first one.
Now Nyqvist and Rapace have not lost a step at all. These two actors have done an excellent job all the way through. They know their characters and are these people. And Rapace has the gift and ability to embrace a role of such an intelligent, dark, independent, haunted woman who has never been seen on-screen before.
Because The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is the last film of the trilogy, it suffers a little for it and director Daniel Alfredson cannot be blamed because nothing is wrong with how the film looks or the way it is crafted. All the goods are there, but the surprises are gone. We all want to know how it ends, but the payoff just is not there. Lisbeth spends all of her time either in the hospital or in court. There are a few scenes in court that will make you smile because it has been a long time coming, but there is not a whole lot to be impressed over.
Do not get me wrong. This film is good and provides an ending for Lisbeth and Blomkvist to get some retribution finally. Unfortunately, what was so intriguing about Dragon Tattoo has never been able to be recaptured. The story has come to an end and ran its cycle, but could it have been better? Perhaps. Did Dragon Tattoo maybe set the bar too high? I think so. The only thing left is to see what David Fincher can do with this trilogy. I am looking forward to it.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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