Stars: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Release Date: October 26, 2010
MPAA Rating: R
The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second film in a three part trilogy anchored by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and to be followed by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. The films that have been released so far have received R ratings due to strong sexual content, brutal violence, nudity, and language.
The Girl Who Played with Fire is directed by Daniel Alfredson and adapted from the book by Steig Larsson. This is a Swedish film with subtitles- though you do have the option to play it dubbed in English. It is not essential that you watch the first film, but it may help you understand the connection between our lead heroine, Lisbeth Salander, and Mikael Blomkvist, the publisher/ investigator of the Millennium magazine. Watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will allow you to understand why Lisbeth, for example, throws a carton of gasoline on a man sitting in a car and then proceeds to toss a lit match in his face, catching him on fire when she was only twelve. Watching the first film will also answer the question of why she is seeking to keep her adoptive guardian frightened into reporting only positive comments about her to the authorities.
In The Girl Who Played with Fire, Mikael runs an investigative magazine called the Millennium, which revolves around uncovering the dark and hidden underworld of society. He hires a young new journalist, Dag, who is investigating respectable authority figures that are using and abusing young women in connection to sex trafficking in Sweden. Already the reporters have approached some of these men with the accusations. As the magazine gets closer to the print date, Dag confides that he believes there is another questionable character to add to the pot, a gangster named Zalachenko (Zala). This Zala figure could really make the article a huge success if Dag could only have a little more time to investigate.
Then we have Lisbeth - a tiny, dark-haired, twenty something, chain-smoking, very private girl that's a tough, intelligent, computer-hacking whiz. She's been out of the country for a while and returns to check up on her guardian, Nils Bjurman, and to see a few friends. She needs to ensure that Bjurman is keeping his word about sending positive reports of her to the court authorities. Carefully, and with the greatest of ease, she hacks into his email and breaks into his home while he's asleep to review any correspondence about her behavior. Lisbeth is unpleased; he has not been sending in any reports for some time. Removing a gun from his desk, she confronts the sleeping man. She threatens to release a certain video to the public if he does not keep his promise. Also, if he plans to remove a tattoo that she had given him, there will be repercussions.
Sometime shortly after, Mikael stops by Dag's apartment to see the information his new associate has. He finds both Dag and Dag's girlfriend murdered with the gun carelessly abandoned next to one of the bodies. The police investigation discovers that the gun belongs to Nils Bjurman. At Bjurman's home it is soon discovered that he too has been murdered, and by the same gun. The tattoo that Lisbeth warned him not to remove is now revealed as well. It just so happens that Lisbeth's finger prints are the clearest ones found on the murder weapon. Suddenly, news stations and the papers have her face plastered across them saying she is responsible for the three murders and is still at large. Both Mikael and Lisbeth work independently to discover who is behind these murders. They uncover the responsible villains, but some of Lisbeth's sacred privacy will be lost.
If you like suspense, mystery, crime and a little bit of a thriller in a movie then you will probably enjoy the entire trilogy! The Girl Who Played with Fire is a pretty good follow up to the first film. It doesn't seem to have quite the intensity as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but it is definitely worth watching. I am not sure how the films compare to the books but it is a nice change to a lot of the lackluster films that are out there now. I bought it and feel that it was worth the money spent.
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