The third film based on the best-selling Millenium book trilogy by Stieg Larsson (after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire).
Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace returns as the pierced and tattooed computer hacker) lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. She will plot revenge against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that nearly destroyed her life.
The Girl Who Played with Fire director, Daniel Alfredson, completes the trilogy.
The final instalment of the Stieg Larsson thriller series has everything you’d expect – pulse-racing escape scenes, eye-wateringly violent encounters and an over-arching intelligence that keeps its central investigations authentic. Just don’t expect it to come bolting out of the gate like the first film. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is still the highlight of the series, whereas this often feels as though it exists to tie up loose ends.
Like the second film, The Girl Who Played With Fire, this keeps its two leads mostly apart, with a bedbound Lisbeth Salander ramping up the frustration as we wait for her to hurry up and recover and get back into the action. Noomi Rapace is steely and heroic but her character’s enduring silence does little to propel her chance for justice, or the development of her character. The structure of the film, which is largely a legal procedural, will also test viewers’ patience.
Rather than Salander at the heart of the film, it’s her long-distance journalist friend Micke Blomkvist (the excellent Michael Nyqvist) who provides the reliable anchor as he and his cohorts try to unravel this densely plotted conspiracy. The finale of the trilogy builds into a powerful (if hard to swallow) climax and should give the Americans putting together the English version much to work with. Ain’t no happy resolution and neat and tidy ending here. Semi-satisfying, if you can keep up.
By Rebecca Barry Hill, Flicks.co.nz
A culmination of why Lisbeth is the way she is. Unlikely character with a sharp wit. 2nd time around was more satisfying.. i got it all. Dialogue labourious. A bit hard on the poor old bastards that were behind the cover up. Devious and powerful as they seem to be they physically were decrepid and could be easily overcome I thought. Rapace played to the tuff nut in lisbeth who was emotionally restrained at all times which eventually had the desired result. Fortunately Blomkvist expertise paid off. I dont know if anyone else saw it but did the ending look like a number four in the pipeline??? According to popular belief a fourth manuscript is laying around...heres hoping!!
Loved this movie as much as the two earlier ones. However, don't go to see it unless you have seen the first two movies or read at least the first two books ... better still, all three in the series; I can't see how anyone could possibly follow the plot otherwise. It's a month at least since I saw this but I do recall coming out and saying - Wow. That was great! If you liked the earlier ones, I don't think you can possibly be disappointed. If you have no prior knowledge of the series, definitely don't go to this as you will hate it and be totally lost.
The last part of this Trilogy is the best part for me - you get all the answers along with all the thrills you would expect - absolutely brilliant
So that no one thinks these films just aren't for me - I loved the first. The second film was terribly made (I would have given it 0 if that was possible!), and the third barely better. So badly made, so very long, so terribly disappointing. And from such a good book. Worst two sequels since the Matrix.
So what has happened is that this uptight, ferocious, little gamin Lisbeth has won our hearts, and we care about these stories and think there had better be more.
Lisbeth Salander rides again
A pick-up after the second film, if not as assured as the first. Rapace sets a high watermark for Rooney Mara in David Fincher’s remakes.
It's a brisk conspiracy thriller about the moral deformations wrought by Sweden's neutrality during the second world war and the cold war, and the role of leftwing journalists to bring out the truth from a labyrinth of national intrigue.
The movie features a great finish, where three movies' worth of subplots and characters dovetail into a breathtaking climax and final confrontation that is positively soul satisfying.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Sunday, 26th Dec 2010.
Release date: December 26th 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
