The Girl Who Played with Fire (2010)

Very well executed

Fantastic!

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009): Dir: Daniel Alfredson / Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Yasmine Garbi, Micke Spreitz, Peter Anderson: Sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo about vengeance and justice. Director Daniel Alfredson weaves a twisted story regarding exposing sex trafficking, several murders, and the young heroine out to clear her name as well as deal with a traumatic past of sexual abuse. Noomi Rapace plays the vicious yet vulnerable Lisbeth who is skilled at kick boxing and is under radar for murder. After the events of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo she sets her sights on bringing her enemies to justice and willing to bend the rules to do so. The quest brings her to near death when sirens signal the concluding credits. Michael Nyqvist plays the journalist from Millennium magazine who believes Lisbeth is innocent. Yasmine Garbi plays a lesbian lover to Lisbeth staying at her apartment but becomes a target by those seeking Lisbeth. Micke Spreitz plays a villain who cannot feel pain due to a nerve condition. He remains one step ahead of Lisbeth particularly when he nearly has her buried alive. Peter Anderson plays a counselor type who rapes her only to have her return and turn the tables on him. One problem with the film is the loose end involving this character in the end. Otherwise this is a shocking suspense thriller about facing trauma from years gone by. Score: 9 / 10

Ambitious sequel to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO about Lisbeth (Rapace) returning home to oversee unexpected but inevitable conflicts, while Mikael (Nyqvist) starts an investigation into a sex-trafficking ring. Starts off as an impressive follow-up, making all the right moves—expanding on things foreshadowed in its predecessor while at the same time introducing new characters with equally interesting stories—but eventually proves itself to be a sufferer of "the middle chapter syndrome", leaving the audience with a cliffhanger that feels more like a legal-drama season finale than its own necessary installment in an overall larger story.**½ (out of four)

I'm going with the Swedish films for this trilogy, which is also being made in the U.S. starring Rooney Mara. Haven't seen the one that's been released.I'll be honest here. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" was hard to watch in some sections. I thought it was good, but rape and violence aren't really my thing.This trilogy was made for Swedish TV, so these films have been cut. Apparently "The Girl Who Played with Fire" has 60 minutes missing. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) goes away for a year and then returns to Sweden. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is still editor of Millennium magazine. An investigative journalist has approached them about a tell-all article on human trafficking involving women from Eastern Europe and some major buyers, and the journalist is ready to name names. Blomkvist gives the okay for the story, but the journalist and his girlfriend, who was working on another aspect of the story, are both murdered. As well, Lisbeth's awful court-appointed guardian is found dead also. Lisbeth is suspected of all three murders and has to go on the run. She and Mikael both work on trying to find out who framed her, which has to be connected to the trafficking story.The case winds up bringing some of Lisbeth's family secrets to the fore.Very well done, less gritty than the first, with a wonderful performance again by Rapace. It didn't have the hard edge to it that the first film had, possibly because of a change in director. However, well worth seeing.

With a phenomenally popular story, it's only natural for it to have a sequel. And like most sequels, they are (almost) never as good as the original. That's what has happened with The Girl who Played with Fire. For the most part this is a result from rather bland direction (almost even sub-par). With no flare to the presentation, nothing that really submerges you into the characters, the direction is nothing more than standard camera-work and often bad timing (relying on loud noises to try and make you jump). But the story saves this from being a regrettable experience. Expanding on Lizabeth's past, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting. But this is a different story. This is not a taut mystery with social implications, as in the first. This is a crime/drama that borders almost into comic book twists (characters with almost super-human abilities and twists that borderline on unbelievable). Still, if you liked the first film, you should find out what has happened in its aftermath.