The Girl Who Played With Fire

Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre

Directed by Daniel Alfredson

Rating: B

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, however, this is the sequel to the Swedish version. Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) is wanted for a triple murder, something she has nothing to do with but everything to do as well. Her prints are on the murder weapon and the police are hunting her down. Blomkvist (Nyqvist) is one of the only people to think she is innocent and he does everything in his power to find proof supporting that as well as finding out who the real murderer is.

Over my winter break, I decided to get into the Millenium trilogy so I could watch the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo before it hit theaters. (See my review for it here.) Since the American version for the sequel has yet to be made, it was great that I could still see the sequel, even if it is in Swedish.

Daniel Alfredson did a good job with placing what is important in this sequel. The book has a lot of information going on so it is hard to choose what to show. The Girl Who Played With Fire has a fast pace to it and does not drag on forever so viewers don't feel like turning it off. The book mainly shows the police side of the investigations which was omitted in this film. It might have been interesting to see their point of view instead of just Blomkvist's. Both the police and Blomkvist are doing their own investigations so it would have been interesting to compare how far they both go.

Rapace did a great job as Salander. It does not seem like an easy role to play. Rapace portrays a believable character that makes the audience wonder how she does it. Salander does not have a big role in this sequel, as she is mainly concerned with hiding out.

I would recommend reading the book rather than seeing this version though because the book gives more information and can help visualize what is going on. The Girl Who Played With Fire was definitely an interesting watch. If you don't mind reading subtitles, then give this movie a chance.