REVIEW: DVD Release: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Film: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Release date: 10th January 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 153 mins
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sofia Ledarp, Micke Spreitz
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany

Lisbeth Salander returns in the second part of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium Trilogy’, continuing the story that began with the hugely successful The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Will the next part of Lisbeth and Blomkvist’s tale prove to be as dark and gripping as the last? Or will there be diminishing returns?

Lisbeth Salander has been in hiding for over a year, and her reporter friend Blomkvist’s frequent attempts to contact her are unsuccessful. Lisbeth’s eventual decision to reenter her old life coincides with a mysterious muscle-bound man approaching her guardian, the sadistic rapist Bjurmann, for Lisbeth’s police reports.

Meanwhile, at Millennium, Blomkvist’s left wing publication, new journalist Dag Svensonn delves in to Sweden’s burgeoning sex trade and is murdered for his troubles.

Thanks to a murder weapon containing her fingerprints, Lisbeth is framed for the murder of Svensonn and his girlfriend, as well as her guardian Bjurmann. To clear her name and find out the identities of the people who framed her, Lisbeth must rekindle her partnership with Blomkvist, and become embroiled in the dangerous world of underground sex trafficking…


The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has been 2010’s most successful import. A dark and dirty adaptation of Stieg Larrson’s novel, oozing with style and alternative in all the right places. Most of the critical praise has been heaped on Noomi Rapace’s revelatory performance as the titular anti-heroine. Barely recognisable under hood, greasy fringe and face metal, Rapace is consumed by the role of Lisbeth, and the result is mesmerising. The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second part in Larrson’s trilogy that, while not as engaging as it’s darker predecessor, still manages to impress thanks to an increased focus on Lisbeth.

The most striking aspect of this second instalment is the shift in tone. If the first film displayed all the tenets of a murky mystery, then it’s follow up leans more towards the action thriller genre. Sure, original bad guy Martin Vanger was perhaps an overblown serial killer stereotype, but a 7ft tall blonde assassin that feels no pain and a disfigured master villain belong in a James Bond yarn, not a noir genre piece. There is a point to these overblown characters, and the explanation of events seen in the first film links the story nicely, making the standalone trilogy opener seem more episodic.

The fractured story structure also takes some getting used to after the tight plotting of the original; however, there are so many plot strands fighting for attention it’s hard to care about any of them. Millenium's investigation into the sex trafficking business is at first intriguing, bringing a new face into the publication in the form of Dag Svensonn, whose character seems set up to be a Blomkvist protege until his abrupt demise. Later, though, the sex trafficking investigation switches from primary story catalyst to disposable subplot, as the focus is fixed squarely on Lisbeth. It is true that interest wanes whenever she is off-screen, but it seems too frivolous to dangle worthy plot diversions in front of us, only to snatch them away when it's time for Ms. Salander to shine.

The chemistry between Blomkvist and Lisbeth was a major pull of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and the sequel suffers by keeping them apart. Lisbeth’s isolation fits with the story, yet one can’t help but yearn for another tentative romantic exchange between the disparate pair. Nyqvist’s performance is perfectly fine, his world weary sleuth is as enjoyable to watch as ever, but in The Girl Who Played With Fire Blomkvist is merely a cipher, a font of exposition to break up the narrative flow of what is essentially the Lisbeth Salander story.

Messy and disjointed it may be, yet in the middle of the confused story and the offbeat characters (seriously, a 7 ft. henchman that feels no pain), is Rapace’s performance. A woman of actions, not words, who has the ability to enthral by merely tapping away at her laptop, Lisbeth Salander is a formidable screen presence, it will be interesting to see how Rooney Mara can emulate this magnificent performance for the forthcoming American remake of The Girl With Dragon Tattoo.


It lacks the style and fresh appeal of its predecessor, and the story is populated with too many cartoon villains for it to be taken seriously, but The Girl Who Played With Fire is held together at the seams by the Noomi Rapace’s flawless performance. KT