A toned down third outing

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (2009)
Certified: 16
Duration: 147 minutes
Directed by: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Endre Annika Hallin, Sofia Ledarp, Jacob Ericksson, Anders Ahlbom, Micke Spreitz
KRS release

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest kicks off with several flashbacks of scenes from the previous Millennium films: The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire. The film picks up immediately where its predecessor left off. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), all bloodied and in pain, is taken to hospital. The young doctor (Aksel Morisse) under whose care she is placed takes a sort of liking to her and takes on a protective role for her. The police are pressing charges for the attempted murder of Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov), her father who was also brought into hospital wounded.

The secret organisation that had brought Zalachenko in from Russia back in the 1970s and had control over government and various other institutions is intent on hiding its trail. This means eliminating Lisbeth Salander in one way or another. The method adopted is to have her confirmed mentally unstable and confined to the same institution in which she had been placed when she was still a child. Dr Teleborian (Anders Ahlbom), the same doctor that had tortured her when she was still 12 years old, is brought in to certify her.

Help is found in Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nygvist) the Millennium journalist who had teamed up with her in the first two films. He believes her innocence and brings in his sister Annika (Annika Hallin), who is a lawyer. Meanwhile Lisbeth’s half-brother (Micke Spreitz) is still at large as he continues piling up the body count in his quest to kill Salander and finish off what their father had started.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is a film that is worth one’s time and shows able craftsmanship. It falls short on the expectations instilled by the two preceding movies.

This does not go to say that this is a bad movie. Not at all. Just that the film is overlong for the material it has, takes too long to build up its case and at times feels too much to be living in the shadow of preceding events. It is bogged down by its need to tie everything up neatly in place.

On the plus side Noomi Rapace is still a bewitching punkette. She is socially inept and we feel for her pains, but we are conscious of the fact that she can trump everyone. The character is surrounded and bullied by most of the men that she meets but she is unpredictable, wild and highly intelligent. We yearn to see her wipe the smile off the face of her adversaries. She is well complemented by Michael Nyqvist, and they share more screen time together than in the second film. Nyqvist has the face that can look naïve yet is carved in stone and takes on the hero’s mantle and carries it proudly.

Another interesting aspect is how the actors that take on the villain roles are so well rounded in what they bring to the screen. The parts may be small but the emotions they elicit are great. The society that they seem to represent is a cold one, where women seem to be shuttered off and it’s the male which controls proceedings. Thus when the villains get their comeuppance it is a moment that is much relished and awaited. For this the final courtroom scene is a perfect example as we see Ms Rapace and Annika Hallin build their case slowly and surely and we are given the chance to relish the justice that is so sweetly delivered.

The word-for-word translation of the title is The Air Castle That Blew Up which refers to the end of a dream that was not to be. If you have not yet seen the first two films, then hurry upand do so and finish off the viewing with this third outing.

As a thriller the film depends mostly on words and atmosphere, rarely on chases, with the action and violence toned down from the first two films.

The finale is a neat conclusion, a powerful story, great performances but a somewhat too ponderous manner in which the girl makes her exit from screen.