Written by Linda
November 10, 2010
I found the third book of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy to be, well, probably the least gripping of the three. And guess what? Same holds true for the movie. Too bad this is all there is. (Until the American remakes, of course.)
For those of you living in a cave, author Stieg Larsson introduced the most badass character to popular crime and conspiracy fiction in a long time. Lisbeth Salander, punk-ass gothy loner hacker chick, was a refreshing addition to the genre, and her character proved to be just as gripping when the books were adapted in Sweden because she was perfectly cast. Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth owns the movies in the same way that Lisbeth owns the books. When Noomi/Lisbeth have nothing much to do, the stories get bogged down in the weight of too much political and criminal conspiracy. I have to admit, chunks of Millennium make my brain shut off.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest picks up right where The Girl Who Played with Fire left off. Now, if you are seeing this third film, I'm going to assume you saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo followed by Fire. If not, well, SPOILERS AHEAD!
Lisbeth starts out the film in the hospital, recovering from her father shooting her in the head (yikes!). You may remember that she was buried and left for dead, but like a good horror movie, she dug herself out with a cigarette case (holy smokes!). But Lisbeth is also in custody as the main suspect for the triple murders in the second movie. So, needless to say, Lisbeth is confined for a big chunk of Hornet's Nest. Let me just say that confining Lisbeth, dramatically speaking, is not good for the audience, since she is easily the best and most interesting thing going on.
In the meantime, journalist and friend Mikael Bloomqvist (Michael Nyqvist) has convinced his sister Annika (the very good Annika Hallin) to represent the tight-lipped Salander as her defense. Mikael and Erika debate over publishing an expose of how Lisbeth was completely screwed by the system, and in the meantime, they are getting not-so-veiled threats to their lives.
The problem with this story is that the conspiracy involves a whole bunch of beige, pasty, old white men. Whether they are government officials, rapist social workers, creepy psychiatrists, or retired super-spies, the bad guys all kind of look the same. And every time they introduce (or re-introduce, as the case may be) another beige bad guy, you find yourself wishing they would get on with it and get back to Salander, who is the true star of the story.
And the story only finally picks up when Salander goes to court. Pulled from her cell, she struts defiantly down the courthouse hallways with heavy platform boots, covered in sleek shiny black latex, and sporting a sky-high black mohawk. THAT'S what we've been waiting for. Too bad for this story that it comes too little too late. And too bad for the Millennium series that this is the last chapter. Now we'll just have to wait and see what they can do with the remake.
