"THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST" a Satisfying Conclusion

[Carl M. Zapffe]

http://www.catsmeowmoviecritic.com/id345.html

"THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST" ('09)...B+  ("Luftslottet som sprängdes," 2009, Swedish with English subtitles) ...  I am sorry to see this highly entertaining and wonderfully original series end, but at least I am content that this cinematic trilogy finishes on the same high note, if not with the same dramatic arc, that started two films ago with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and continuing with "The Girl Who Played with Fire."

This movie, sad to say, will be the final Lisbeth Salander film unless material for another novel magically appears from the possession of author Stieg Larsson's disinherited common law wife. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" was adapted from the final novel of what is called "The Millennium Trilogy" by the now deceased Swedish author Stieg Larsson. It wasn't meant to be a trilogy, as Larsson had intended to write ten novels about the Salander-Blomkvist pairing before he died from an unexpected heart attack in 2004 at the all too young age of 50. 

Each of Larsson's books consist of complex plots, subplots, and multiple characters populating the stories. This necessitates some culling and abbreviation to fit everything into the movies, all of which run close to two and a half hours in length. The Millennium trilogy is a wonderful read and these three movies have all been done with extraordinary faithfulness to the stories and their characters. There was little to no dramatic license taken here with the small exception that Zala's threatening giant of a son, Ronald Niedermann (Micke Spreitz), has a few scenes which aren't in the book. 

Needless to say, the reviews of all three books and all three movies can be found on my two web sites. At some point in the near future all three movies will be available for rent or purchase, and I would strongly suggest viewing them in order or their dramatic context will be lost along with you being left in a fog of disparate characters known by their nearly unintelligible and often unpronounceable Swedish names.

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" is the weakest of the three films in that it follows the book with its plot centering around corrupt political machinations, compromised police procedurals, and a somewhat uninspired trial that reads far better than it was filmed. Likewise, the characterizations are better in the book because we can read what they are thinking so we are better able to understand their motivations, an ability not available in the movie. Another flaw in this film which stretches for two and one half hours is that even at that length, it still gives short shrift or neglects entirely too many important minor characters in the novel.

Furthermore, Lisbeth Salander, the out front, outsized, brooding character of the story brilliantly portrayed by Noomi Rapace, spends much of this movie in a hospital bed recovering from the gunshot wounds administered by her father. She is forced to administer her own brand of justice by breaking into the computers of her enemies with the help of "Plague" (Thomas Köhler), a fellow computer hacker.

Fortunately for her, new friends arrive to help at critical junctures, including Dr. Jonasson (Aksel Morisse), a young doctor, who fends off the police and the evil Dr. Teleborian (Anders Ahlbom), both of whom want to spirit Lisbeth away into their custody. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nykvist) continues his crusade to remand Lisbeth to society as a normal citizen, and he recruits his sister, Annika Giannini (Annika Hallin), a noted civil attorney, to serve as her lawyer. Finally, Swedish Prime Minister Edklinth (Georgi Staykov) receives news of a hidden slush fund financing long time illegal police activities. Rather than bury this information, he forces the police to ferret out the corruption among their own.

For much of the rest of the movie Lisbeth is either in a jail cell or in court at her trial for three murders. The trial quickly devolves into a hearing on her mental capacity, as her opponents try to label her an antisocial psychopath who needs to be committed to a mental institution. It is not until the end of the film when she is a newly freed woman that we have action scenes that play to her strength after she is able to find a missing piece of the puzzle and tie up an important loose end.

This will be the last Swedish film on this most unlikely of heroines. However, some consolation, I suppose, can be taken from the fact that Larsson's first novel, "The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo," is being made into an English-language movie with Daniel Craig cast as crusading reporter, Mikael Blomkvist, while relatively unknown actress (to me) Rooney Mara has been cast as Lisbeth Salander. Christopher Plummer will be playing the role of Henrik Vanger with Robin Wright playing his daughter, Harriet Vanger. 

I remain deeply cynical about Hollywood doing anything right when it comes to making movies adapted from treasured novels, but I have to admit that the high level of casting exhibited here does give me some cause for hope. I will wait to see what David Fincher does as the director for this film, but I will never put it past Hollywood to screw up a sure thing. In any event, take my advice and make a point to see these original versions after your have read the novels. The American version will be hard put to match the dark color and the brooding atmosphere of the Swedish version. 147 minutes and rated R for strong violence, some sexual material, and brief language.

Carl M. Zapffe,

The Cat's Meow Movie Critic

http://www.catsmeowmoviecritic.com