Thursday 14 January 2016

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest (2009)



I very much enjoyed the sober, methodical style of the first film in this series: it made a refreshing change from the more action-oriented tone of a Hollywood techno-thriller.  I was therefore a bit disappointed when the sequel became exactly what I'd liked the original for not being.

This last film of the trilogy (or at least the original trilogy: apparently there's been a fourth book by a different author) continues to be more in the "car chases and fistfights" oeuvre, though it is significantly more restrained than its immediate predecessor.  There's no scene of Lisbeth Salander clawing her way out of her own grave this time, for instance.

Though to be honest, there's no scene of Lisbeth Salander doing much at all in this film.  She spends most of the movie's run time in police custody, either at hospital or in a cell, while other characters do the work of disproving the allegations brought against her by a secret cabal of intelligence officers.  It's an unfortunate position for the title character and one-time proactive, independent woman to be in.  Even the script itself seems to realise that, as it includes a sub-plot that exists solely to give Lisbeth an action scene to take part in, right at the end of the film.

Neither the above flaws nor the film's other weakness - a distinct failure to generate any real tension over the outcome - prevented me from enjoying the movie while it was on, but it never rises above the status of being a tolerable time-waster.

No comments:

Post a Comment