In limited release is the second film in the Millennium trilogy—THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. This continuation of the story begun in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is smaller and more focused than its predecessor. And as a bridge to the third and final film, FIRE will more than tide over fans already briefed by reading the third book—THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST.
Picking up sometime after DRAGON left off, FIRE has Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) trying to live in anonymity. But when her money runs out, she’s forced to turn to her evil guardian/attorney for assistance. As we learned in the first film, Lisbeth was committed to a mental institution as a child and now lives outside the institution under the watchful eye of a lecherous guardian. In the first film, she fixed her guardian one good by blackmailing him into freeing up her trust fund. But when she tries that tactic once again, her guardian decides to just do away with her and he employs the even more evil Zala to do the task.
This is where investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyquist) gets into the story. Blomkvist’s magazine, Millennium, is investigating an underage prostitution ring that this Zala character may be involved in. In time, Lisbeth and Blomkvist will cross paths as both get drawn into the scary and seedy world of prostitution, drugs, and international espionage. I especially liked Zala’s massive blonde henchman in this film, who can take a punch better than any heavy, even when that punch comes from a trained professional boxer!
Effectively expanding on the world of the first film, FIRE answers a lot of questions for DRAGON fans. While not quite as juicy and satisfying as DRAGON, this middle movie should whet the appetite of avid trilogy followers. Reminding of a great X-Files episode, or something from David Lynch’s universe, this Millennium trilogy is shaping up well and FIRE develops the characters meaningfully while still giving viewers their thriller dose. It is not surprising that these films have spawned a television series in Sweden.
With the books hitting high on best-seller lists and a planned US remake already underway with the likes of Daniel Craig and David Fincher and even George Clooney rumored to be involved, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is required viewing.
NOTE: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
