Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire

This isn't actually a shot from the movie. I just think it looks really badass.

Anyway, so here we are with the sequel to The Girl with the Drago Tattoo and I doubt really anyone cares or knows what the heck I'm talking about unless you've read the books that apparently have sold millions of copies worldwide. I have't read the books and just decided to jump in and see what they're like. And let me tell you, this is dark, twisted stuff.

After journalist Mikael Blumqvist (Michael Nyqvist) and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) solved the previous mystery of brutal murders of woman around Europe done in sadistic, ritualistic fashion, Lisbeth manages to help uncover evidence against the man who put Mikael in jail and steal his money at the same time. So she's traveling all over the world just for the fun of it. Well she decides to come back to Stockholm, Sweden and in the meantime a young reporter joins Mikael's paper with a story about local businessmen and politicians involved in sex trafficking. Anyways, Libseth eventually gets framed for the murder of the young reporter and his wife as well as her old lawyer (who used to rape her, btw). Mikael then sets off to solve why someone would want to frame Lisbeth while she is on the run.

Whoo. That's a lot to explain. It sorta hurt my head to go over everything that happened again. And that can either be off-putting for many people or be fresh and interesting for others. I really enjoy going into movies that I know next to nothing about and this was one of them. The story may be fairly complex and the plot moves slow (like the first one) but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

I feel like a lot of American cinema is just making stuff happen. The majority of movies out there just give audiences what they want right up front and cut right to the punch. And if there's some sort of twist waiting to happen, well then there better be some pretty sweet action or brutality beforehand gosh-darnit. That just seems to be the way American movie-goers think. Indie movies aside, at least. I for one enjoy a well-constructed plot-line even if it does take over two hours to finish.Granted, there wasn't anything that "shocking" about the ending of the first one or this one either, but again, not always a bad thing. Yeah, you may feel let down, but you have to appreciate the whole thing.

The middle is really where it's at. All the actors do a great job here (especially Rapace) of really indulging in the character and it makes everything a lot more intense. The style in which the plot unfolds makes it seem almost as if it's not all put together for the audience to enjoy. It is it's own ordeal and just puts up with the audience being there. It sounds weird (and probably doesn't make sense) but it is what it is.

A better way to say it is like looking back over recordings or something and not exactly trying to figure it out but just waiting for that point where everything will be explained. Because you know that part is coming, you just have to be patient because the video has to play out.

Alright, I'm done trying to explain my ramblings and weird thoughts. It's a good series. I think a lot of women (those who don't already want to date a vampire) secretly want to be someone as badass and dark as Lisbeth Salander. It's pretty obvious she's a drastic female lead when she beats up and kills men who have abused her or other women. Definitely making a statement about violence with women which is definitely not a bad thing. Maybe I'll try to read these books someday, but for now, I'll just jump on the bandwagon of the movie adaptations.