Went to a preview screening with Q&A following which you can read about here but what of the film itself? I've not read the books and really enjoyed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo so I had high expectations but few preconceptions.
Fire picks up the story pretty much where Dragon left off with Lisbeth Salander returning to Sweden setting up home in secret.
Framed for a series of murders she sets about clearing her name, while staying one step ahead of the police and some mystery hoodlums bent on tracking her down . One of the murder victims is a young investigative journalist working for Mikael Blomkvist's magazine on piece investigating sex trafficking which is set to expose numerous big wigs and the two story lines inevitable become inextricably linked.
Noomi Rapace is, once again, excellent as the damaged, hard, capable and secretive loner Salander who's past seeps more into the story in this second instalment. Michael Nygvist has less to work with in this film than the first but nonetheless does a good turn as the dogged-hack with a soft spot for Lisbeth.
The story crackles along at a nice pace but the big shocks of Dragon are less evident and it swerves a little too far over the line into the far fetched at times. Perhaps it is a victim of being the often awkward middle section of a trilogy but it lack some of the unique thrills and excitement of the first.
It was a good film though, just not as good and I am, nonetheless, really looking forward to the final instalment which promises to reveal all about Ms Salander.
Other views:
Empire Online gave it three stars concluding: Entertaining and powerful, if hurried. It needs a killer Part Three to make it a trilogy, not a hit with sequels.
Total Film gave it three stars too commenting: Plot-heavy and convoluted, Millennium 2 scores points thanks to the captivating Rapace and some mean – though not lean – thrills.
Comments