The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

As this film, the final installment in the Millennium trilogy, begins, (SPOILERS AHEAD) Lisbeth Salander is in a hospital, recovering from the bullet in the head she got at the end of part II. Soon her father (the Ukrainian mobster who tried to kill her) is dead, but nevertheless she remains on the run from his minions, especially the blond monster of the second part who here is shockingly revealed to be her half brother. One could argue that the Millennium trilogy is a metaphor or indictment of the rottenness of Swedish society, but if the first movie worked (the best in the trilogy by a long shot) was as a very exciting action movie with a compelling mystery. If that first part was a great, gripping film, Millennium II was unpleasant, disjointed and confusing. Millennium III give us the loose ends in the first two parts, and is much better than II, though not up to the first movie. It can be confusing at the start, and for much of the running time it has the look of a condensed miniseries, as if several hours were resumed in two and a half. Also, I found that the long trial scene, while explaining much of Lisbeth's motivations, was a drag to watch. Fortunately, the final fifteen minutes make a very satisfying end to the trilogy. One reason the final two installments were not up to the first is that they were shot by a different director: Niels Oplev is clearly a much better director than Daniel Alfredson. But the ending redeems this movie, making it worthwhile to see.

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source: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I thought "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" to be the best of the three films in the Millennium series. Why? Because it sustains the suspense inherent in the plot from beginning to end. And it brings the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion when, for the first time, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) utters the words "Thank you" to Michael Nyqvist (Mikael Blomkvist) for the favor he has done her in saving her life. Finally, the viewer of the three films may believe that this strange, tormented, withdrawn girl child may actually find peace now that all her demons have been vanquished. After seeing all three films, I still don't know how Hollywood can succeed in replacing Noomi Rapace as the central figure in the story. Surely, like most Swedes, she can speak English and, if she has an accent, why shouldn't she, since her character is a Swede and the action takes place in and around Stockholm? Unless of course, Hollywood moves it to some other locale. In which case, I hope someone has a camera focused on Stieg Larsson's grave to watch him rolling over.

Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and her father Alexander Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov) are transported to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, where Lisbeth is submitted to a surgery to remove a bullet from her skull. During her recovery, she is assisted by the gentle Dr. Anders Jonasson (Aksel Morisse) that helps her, avoiding contact with the police, since Lisbeth will face trial for attempted murder of her father with an ax when she is discharged. Meanwhile Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) asks his friend, the lawyer Annika Giannini (Annika Hallin), to defend Lisbeth but they need evidences to prove her innocence. Further, she needs to disclose the sordidness she was submitted in her life by her guardian Bjurman and by the Chief Psychiatrist at St. Stefan's Dr. Peter Teleborian (Anders Ahlbom Rosendahl) in Uppsala; however Lisbeth is reluctant to open her life in court. When Zalachenko is gunned down in the hospital, Lisbeth is protected by the police. Mikael uses the Millennium's resource to investigate the connections of the criminal Evert Gullberg (Hans Alfredson ) and is contacted by the Constitutional Defense Agent Monica Figuerola (Mirja Turestedt). Together with the task force, they disclose a rogue security service ring that has protected the defected spy Zalachenko. Further, they discover that the group is threatening Erika Berger (Lena Endre) and is plotting to discredit Mikael. Meanwhile Ronald Niedermann (Mikael Spreitz) is stalking Lisbeth while the hacker Plague (Tomas Köhler) is trying to crack the laptop of Dr. Peter Teleborian. "Luftslottet som sprängdes" a.k.a. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" is another magnificent film of the Millennium Trilogy that closes with golden key this awesome story. Trilogies or franchises usually do not work with few exceptions, but this Swedish-Danish-German production is among the best recent films. Actually, there is a long and well constructed story, with characters very well-developed, divided in three excellent films. The actors and actresses are absolutely unknown in Brazil: Noomi Rapace, who is brilliant performing the complex Lisbeth; Michael Nyqvist with his charismatic Mikael Blomkvist; and Ms. Lena Endre, who is one of the most beautiful and elegant actresses of fifty and something years old. My vote is ten. Title (Brazil): "A Rainha do Castelo de Ar" ("The Queen of the Air Castle") Note: On 15 Jul 2018 I saw this film again.

Ah, the Millennium Trilogy, or as another reviewer correctly put it, The Good, The Bad, and the Unbelievably Boring. Of course, we all know what I'm referring to with each term- Good (DT), Bad (PWF) and... yeah. I wasn't gonna review the sequels in the first place, because keeping in mind and all hype aside, clearly the only good movie in the series was Dragon Tattoo. It's evident from frame one of Played With Fire that they weren't even trying to make quality sequels, and alas, this is the perfect example of why some trilogies just plain should never be. But, hey, I've already created a bit of a monster here, so why leave it incomplete. The lack of any memorable scenes is back, and worse than ever. A bit of good news for ya though, this movie does, in some scenes, restore the visual palette of Dragon Tattoo, how some scenes look Gothic and at times, even pretty. Oh, and the acting is good too. That may be about it. The film continues the plot of the second movie, where Lisbeth, recovering from the gunshot wound to the head she survived, finds herself on trial for the murders in the second movie, with Blomkvist there to help her prove her innocence. Making a return is our favorite stupid goon, Niedermann. That's right, the big, tall, blonde idiot who can't feel any pain and walks around being Oooooooh so scary and nervous and is unexplained. It's rather unfortunate that potential for a good villain was wasted, because Niedermann could have been the perfect villain. Perhaps this is Larsson's fault, but it's still no excuse. The film isn't without its share of plot holes. The antagonist, Zalachenko, is killed off 20 minutes into the movie in a murder-suicide, which is over before it even begins, and this creates a lot of problems with the plot, especially since a lot of questions are raised about him in the trial scenes. Who is even on whose side again? This was a problem in Played With Fire, and here it's even more irritating, because we only know that Mikael is the one person who will stop at nothing to prove Lisbeth innocent. There is a subplot regarding death threats sent to one of Mikael's coworkers, and this is later left to die... which is a frustrating since it could have been SO interesting to begin with. And of course, let's not forget the trial scenes. They're ridiculous, rushed, and boring beyond belief. I actually expected Judge Judy to come out at one point and kick the judge aside to deal with the case herself. I actually kinda wished that would happen since they're the one way this movie could be interesting. Fortunately, Noomi Rapace does an excellent job yet again. She is a gorgeous and very talented actress, and she kills again as Lisbeth here. Aside from Noomi, this film is a clear cut case of why some trilogies should just never happen.

Well, that was a colossal waste of time. I knew going in that this was the third film in a trilogy and I hadn't seen the first two. It was the only one on the shelf at my video store and I figured at least it could give me an idea if the American remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would be worth seeing. So, I was prepared to make a lot of allowances for this movie and how things might not make sense or have much meaning to me. However, a risen saint wouldn't be able to forgive the sins of this motion picture. This may be the least entertaining threequel of all time… and that includes all the awful third films in so many horror franchises. I know a little about what the Lisbeth Salander books are about, but let me give you an idea of what someone would think if they came into this movie with no pre-existing knowledge at all. An undefined cabal run by old Swedish guys has been screwing with the life of this punk chick because she's the daughter of a Soviet defector. Why they've been screwing with her life and what they do besides that is unclear. After a bunch of stuff has already happened, a crusading magazine editor, who appears to have both a middle aged wife and an even more middle aged mistress, teams up with an undefined government agency to bring the undefined cabal to justice for things that are never specifically spelled out. The only thing the punk chick contributes to that effort is texting a fat guy. There's this platinum blonde mute who wanders around killing people and an evil psychiatrist who gets treated like the worst villain of them all. Finally, it turns out the story isn't about the cabal after all but is actually a rant against the mental health laws of Sweden which apparently allow the government to declare someone mentally incompetent and deny them their legal rights. A lot of threequels expect the audience to have seen the previous two films. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Next expects that you've not only seen the first two but have them memorized. There is virtually no build up or explanation for any of the plot developments or emotional beats in this story. I'd say at least 85 to 90% of this thing only has meaning through references to the previous movies. Who characters are, what they're doing and why the viewer should care are questions left almost entirely unanswered by what's on the screen. This is also an extremely dry and bloodless attempt at a thriller. The heroine is about as stoic as a table leg and the villains are as fussy as accountants during tax season. I don't know if it's the Swedish sensibility or what, but these people all seem to be on mood stabilizers. The final legal showdown is about as tension filled as a day in traffic court. There's also a weirdly juvenile nature to what goes on. When the undefined cabal is worried that a magazine might be getting to close to uncovering them, you know what they do? The send threatening e-mails. When that doesn't work…they throw a rock through a window. Those aren't the actions of a menacing conspiracy. That's what your needy ex-boyfriend does after you break up with him at Denny's. By the time the cabal tries something legitimately intimidating or evil, they've become too ridiculous to take seriously. Maybe the earlier films are a lot jazzier and you know the U.S. version will amp up the sex, violence and intensity, but The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Next is less like the pulse-pounding conclusion to an epic saga and more like a random episode of a prime time Swedish soap opera. If this represents some global phenomenon, I can honestly say that I don't get it and I don't think I'm missing anything.

Disengagement rules the roost this time, as the closing credits take too long to unwind, falling over a ledge, there's no sting, it's a dredge, with a plot that's a cinematic crime. As dull as ditch water but not as much fun, avoid at all costs, making haste, take a run.

The "Millennium" trilogy ends with a whimper. The first film was fairly entertaining. The second was a step down but not too bad. This third installment is a never-ending, boring blab fest. The heroine spends pretty much the whole film confined to either a hospital room or a prison cell, and she has a total of about ten lines of dialog. The plot consists of little more than rehashing the events of the earlier films. There is hardly any action. It's all talk, and too much of the conversation is devoted to mundane things that do nothing to advance the story. There are too many characters exchanging pedestrian dialog. The only good thing about this film is that it ends the trilogy.

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" ends the Millennium Trilogy from Swedish television. Taking up where the second chapter left off, Lisbeth Salandar (Noomi Rapace) is in the hospital, recovering from her wounds. She's also under arrest. Her father, Alexander Zalachenko, survived and is in the same hospital. There is a move afoot to charge her with attempted murder but also to have her committed to a mental institution again. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is devoting a special issue of Millennium to getting justice for Lisbeth. He soon learns that the people behind attempting to silence Lisbeth will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. Mikael and Lisbeth work separately again to clear her name and keep her from being either imprisoned or committed. Good ending to this trilogy, as it wraps up the story very nicely. Rapace's magnificent presence and total immersion into the role again dominates, with Nyqvist also excellent as Blomkvist, demonstrating his quiet determination to help Lisbeth. Despite the pervasive dark atmosphere (which the story demands) and some really major violence in the first episode, which is not my thing, I really am very glad I watched the Swedish version of this trilogy and do not plan on viewing the American version. In fact, I'm not even sure why they're making it, except that no one in Hollywood is interested in doing anything original. The Swedish "The Girl" trio will be hard to beat.