The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

7/10

Starring

Michael Nyqvist

Noomi Rapace

Directed by Daniel Alfredson

This second take on the Millennium series, titled The Girl Who Played with Fire, is also an adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson’s book of the same name. The movie is very intriguing but a little difficult to follow if you haven’t already read the book and don’t have a clue where every puzzle piece is supposed to fit. I feel the movie is a step down from the first crime thriller (which this is also), but that’s expected because now we know the characters and what they are capable of.

I did enjoy how the movie follows the book. What I mean is, in the book, as you’ll see in this movie, both Lisbeth and Mikael are running investigations separately into the same thing, with Lisbeth leaving message trails on Mikael’s laptop to follow.

In the first movie, you could sense that Lisbeth’s original guardian was nice to her and trusted her. But in this movie, when he has suffered a stroke, she is angry, which can be tied to her feeling abandoned by the one person she could rely on. In this movie, you get to see that bridge crossed by her to care for the person who cared for her. The movie helps connect the dots in Lisbeth’s past and pulls back the curtain on certain aspects you may have questions about, leaving the door open to new questions.

Both Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace reprise their roles as Mikael and Lisbeth, respectively. In fact, the majority of the cast is back in their respective roles.

The movie plot takes place months after the incidents of the first film. Lisbeth has settled with the money she has acquired and is living the life. Back in Sweden, a couple approaches Mikael’s magazine, Millennium, with a huge story about prostitution, sex, and human trafficking. They continue to investigate and start digging up dirt that many people will kill to keep buried.

Lisbeth is back in Sweden and discovers that her new guardian, who abused her, is trying to get the tattoo she wrote on his torso removed. She confronts him with her gun and warns him not to even think of removing the tattoo. Lisbeth goes on with her life, and soon we have a case of triple murder.

The couple investigating the sex trafficking has been killed, and so has Lisbeth’s guardian. Lisbeth is now the chief suspect.

The couple’s death was not in vain, as they left their investigations in the hands of Millennium, almost finished, except for one thing—a man named Zala, whose name keeps coming up.

Mikael and his team decide to continue the investigation because Mikael believes their deaths are connected to Lisbeth, whom he believes is innocent. Soon, the movie takes a deep dive into Lisbeth’s past, and some of her past monsters come up from the depths to hunt her.

The movie didn’t receive the wild critical acclaim of the first, but it is considered a good follow-up. So now, I’ll dive into the last movie of the series, which is based on the last book of the same name, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, written by the late Stieg Larsson.