The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was the wheat - - it's sequel - - The Girl Who Played With Fire is the chaff.



If it wasn't for the non-stop torture porn, I coulda sworn it was an out-and-out parody of the first film.

I think with enough viewings, I could see this sequel playing as pure comedy. But as it is and as a film, it is a totally shallow puppet show, where the old favorite characters are trotted out and put through a mechanical plot device, and instructed to keep their eyes open ⅛" wider to make up for the flaccid screenplay.

The pleasantly complex intensity of the first film's story and the director's superb visual flare made me love TGWTDT and it sits high on my 2010 top ten list... it is absolutely brilliant...

...but unfortunately TGWPWF turns out to be a sorry excuse for a sequel - - what a huge let down - - the magic is gone.


1 out of 5.

A decent film in and of itself, but it does not come close to matching the first, an exciting and well-crafted sleeper hit. The plot once again concerns a tenacious journalist (Michael Nyqvist) and a haunted, pierced-and-tattooed computer expert (Noomi Rapace), who we last saw investigating the unsolved, decades-old vanishing of a teenager and facing a serial murderer. Now, the duo are part of a new case--involving a sex trafficking ring--with an at-times preposterous ensemble of new allies (a star boxer!) and foes (a white-haired giant who can't feel pain!). The atmosphere and pulp-elegance of the first film is reduced in this sequel. "Dragon Tattoo" was complicated, long, and perhaps even exhausting, but it was also a memorable cinematic experience. A detailed, wide-in-scope, entertaining detective film of the highest order. "Played with Fire" is far more run-of-the-mill--at times it's as bland as a mediocre episode of CSI: NY. The "this time, it's personal" elements of the plot often feel forced. "He's your brother," oh, come on!

The actors are the saving grace; Rapace and Nyqvist once again shine and are 100 percent convincing in their roles. Also, the film does enliven near the end after a second act which is so exposition-heavy as to become almost numbing.

See it (for a handful of great action/suspense sequences, as well as the dynamite leads), but with reservations.

B-

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE - 8/10 (B+)

Honestly, I thought it was great and about as good as "Dragon Tattoo." I would have liked Lisbeth and Mikael to have more scenes together (there's only one at the end which barely counts), but other than that I wasn't disappointed at all. Noomi Rapace continues to captivate as Lisbeth. I still have a difficult time seeing how I could buy anyone else in this role. To me, Rapace is Lisbeth. Not sure if Rooney Mara (who will play Lisbeth in the upcoming American remake) will impress me nearly as much. At this point, I think it will be very difficult to win me over. I'll say I'm definitely not fond of the casting decision. They would have been better off going with an unknown actress so I wouldn't have any pre-conceived notions.

Anyway, can't wait to see "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest."

It was lame enough to turn me off the series, so much so that I still haven't seen the third one.

Same with me.



I guess we'll never know.

Though the third is a clear improvement over the second.

I really don't think anyone who disliked the second would like the third.