The Girl Who Played With Fire

It wasn’t until after I had seen The Girl Who Played With Fire that I found out the film (along with Dragon Tattoo and Hornet’s Nest) was actually a shortened edit of six 90 minute episodes previously shown on Swedish television which covered the whole of the so-called Millennium trilogy. Whilst this didn’t appear to have a significant impact on the first film, it certainly has here. The main problem with Fire is that so much is crammed into the running time it’s impossible to keep up with everything. Some characters come and go with virtually no relevance to the plot (though I suspect this is the result of the snipping) and the overall storyline quickly becomes confused. Daniel Alfredson’s direction doesn’t help as the tone is uneven throughout the film (similar to the first film) and the ending feels like a below par horror, and a ridiculous one at that. If you haven’t seen the first film then don’t bother with this as there’s no set up for new comers. The one bright spark is Noomi Rapace’s performance which is so good it’s already impossible to see anyone else playing the part with such confidence. It’s a shame that this second film fails to grip like the first, which was a smart mixture of grit and intrigue. This is just dull. Perhaps if the whole Swedish TV Series is eventually released on DVD we’ll get the fuller picture. In the meantime though we await Hornet’s Nest. Which way will that one go?

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Rapace is great, but this is a long way off the first film due to the confusing nature of the plot and some dull direction. Rating: 4/10.