“A BARN BURNER”
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Paolo Roberto, Peter Andersson , Georgi Staykov and Micke Spreitz
Directed by: Daniel Alfredson
Based on a book by Stieg Larsson
MPAA Rating: Rated R for brutal violence including a rape, some strong sexual content, nudity and language.
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Foreign, In Swedish with Subtitles
Run Time: 2hr. 9min
By John Delia
This film is long, challenging, relentless and brutal, but The Girl Who Played With Fire comes up a winner in spite of these probable shortcomings. Based on a book trilogy by Stieg Larsson, this sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo provides a new case for its central characters and fleshes out new dangers with which they have to deal. It’s a mystery thriller with a twisted ending.
This installment of the trilogy finds investigative writer Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) getting involved with a news group who’s trying to expose a Russian sex-trafficking ring.  One night he stops by the home of Dag who has been the lead investigating reporter on the project and finds him dead. In the meantime, Lisbeth Salandar (Noomi Repace) who has returned to Sweden from the Caribbean finds herself in trouble when they find her fingerprints on the weapon that killed Dag. In an attempt to help Salandar, his former confident in the previous book, Blomkvist searches for clues that could exonerate her while dragging him deeper into the den of the sex peddlers.
Director Daniel Alfredson waists no time getting to the point of the film, but unfortunately there’s viewer collateral damage. The problem here is that he approaches the plot expecting the audience has already seen the first film or read the book. He reveals very little history about Blomkvist and Salandar who are the key characters in the movie. Focusing his film mainly on the investigative reporting plot involving the sex trafficking he later provides reasons for Salandar’s plight and the final twist.
It’s a terror thriller, but comes with a suggestion by this writer; I highly recommend that you see or read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (now on DVD) before watching this film. If you do, the film will become less puzzeling and more rewarding. Also be prepared for a lengthy film that leaves out very little from the book. Although it does drag somewhat, The Girl Who Played with Fire is still a brilliant film, especially if you like suspense plots that cover a lot of details.
The film is rated R for brutal violence including a rape, some strong sexual content, nudity and language. The movie is presented in Swedish with English subtitles.
FINAL ANALYSIS:Â A mystery thriller with a twisted ending. (3.5 of 5)