The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Blu-ray + DVD)

This, the third movie in the trilogy, is like unwrapping an onion, as there are many layers. The movie recaps the ending of the second movie, in showing Lisbeth’s beating and her hitting back at her father, almost killing him. And the man who feels no pain is in this movie also. Mikael, the journalist from Millennium Magazine, is out to clear her, while the authorities want to try her for attempted murder of her father, and others want her committed for the rest of her life as a psychopath. Zalachenko feels he can still pull the strings, as he knows things, and his circle are old men who have a lot to hide and have a lot at risk. It is not a pleasant thing when old ruthless men get stirred up. The movie devotes most of its time in trying to determine what and who is behind the desire to see her committed, and can they be exposed. There is a trial, and it seems like Lisbeth is her own worst enemy, in her Goth make up and attitude, while the prosecution lays out its case, but is it real? It is a change of pace from the prior two movies in the trilogy.

I watched the first movie in English, the second movie in Swedish and then the third movie in English. Happily, Rapace was back with the usual crew from the first two. Another great movie, violent yes, but it fit the story and was very enjoyable. I fully recommend this movie and the first two as well. Well acted, good production quality and three great scripts. A binge watch on a rainy day is a good way to spend about seven hours...what a ride!

Was always told that I needed to see this trilogy and it was pretty good. Much better than the remakes in my opinion.

Most people who see this film are probably already well familiar with the story surrounding Lisbeth Salander, the unlikely "heroine" of the trilogy by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Director Daniel Alfredson, who also directed The Girl Who Played with Fire, apparently also assumes this, as he spends little time giving background, instead showing quick cuts of a few scenes from the two earlier films and allowing Lisbeth's background to unfurl through her trial for murder. Beginning the film at about the halfway point of the final novel, Alfredson also omits most of the danger represented by her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Russian defector who is trying to kill her in the hospital where they are both patients recuperating from life-threatening injuries. Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov) has only a cameo role here.For much of this film, actress Noomi Rapace, as Lisbeth, does not speak, instead conveying information through her facial expressions, allowing the viewer to see up close just how good an actress she is and how much she can convey with the blink (or lack of a blink) of an eye. Lisbeth is certainly a disturbed individual--angry, unable to trust anyone, reclusive, and no stranger to using violence to solve her problems--but much of this behavior is a result of her institutionalization and the physical and sexual abuse by virtually all the men which whom she came in contact as a child, including the care-givers assigned to her by the state.When Lisbeth is finally released from the hospital for trial, Rapace plays the role to the hilt, and her close-ups in the courtroom are stunning--her eyes going dead, her slight grimaces, her blank expressions, her palpable vulnerability. Represented in court by Mikael Blomqvist's sister Annika Giannini (played with wonderful subtlety by Annika Hallin), she appears to be everything that the uncompromising legal system abhors, and she does nothing to help herself. As in the past, Michael Nyqvist plays the role of Mikael Blomqvist, the caring writer/publisher of Millenium Magazine who wants to help her. As he and the staff of Millenium investigate the circumstances surrounding Lisbeth's assignment to a mental institution at the age of twelve, and the accusations of abuse which she has made, the contrast between their commitment and active involvement in her future and the lack of affect that she shows toward her own future is dramatic and moving.Unlike the previous films, there is very little dramatic violence here, though Lisbeth's confrontation with her giant brother Ronald Niedermann (Micke Spreitz), who is unable to feel pain, is one of the film's high points. There are no graphic sex scenes, and the only sexual abuse is done off-camera. The Swedish setting--and the mood--are dark and cold, paralleling the life of Lisbeth Salander. The final scene, subtly different from the novel, consists of Lisbeth uttering one word--a word that had as much long-term dramatic effect for me as the word "Rosebud" does in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. Ultimately, the viewer feels a kind of peace at the end of the film, a sensitive and satisfying conclusion to this trilogy. Mary Whipple

This is truly the case where a movie is better than the novel on which it is based. Stieg Larsson's novel is complex, wanders, has whole lines of drama that don't add to the story (Erika taking a job at another publication is a prime example). It is still a fine work, but pretty tough to read in places (I sometimes skipped whole scenes involving the unraveling of the conspiracy by the small unit that ended up overseeing Zalachenko).In the movie, the story line about the governmental unit that ended up protecting and working with Zalachenko is much cleaner. So, too, the powerful trial scene. In the book, the trial scene is long, Salander's attorney appears to me to be given way too much latitude, Teleborian's testimony seems interminable. The movie tightens this up considerably--without compromising the power as the scene concludes in the novel.In short, a satisfying conclusion to a powerful trilogy of movies (originally conceived as a TV series). Noomi Rapace continues her extraordinary run as Lisbeth Salander. She even smiles broadly! Of course, in character, it is when she learns that her father, Zalachenko, has been killed. Kind of chilling as you watch the scene play out. She also features a handful of "crooked smiles," as Larsson describes them in the novels. The team at Millennium, led by Erika Berger and Mickael Blomkvist, work to exonerate Salander and speak to the misuse of government power used to throw her into a mental institution when she was 12.Her final confrontation with her half brother is very much in keeping with the novel and quite satisfying, including how she takes care of the motorcycle gang while using them for her purposes of vengeance. Well done indeed! Other highlights: Salander's use of her handheld to access the Internet while in the hospital, Plague's taking on a more central role (a rather unlikely "hero"), Salander's neo-Rocky sequence in which she exercises while in prison, her play acting in the trial as she Goths out (or whatever the term is), her final meeting with Blomkvist as the movie closes (I think the novel's ending was superior). Other pluses: Blomkvist's sister's role as Salander's defense attorney; Teleborian's demise; the more complete picture of Erika's and Mikael's relationship.The movie is long, coming in at about 2 1/2 hours, but it doesn't seem to drag. There is not always a lot of action, but the story line seems to move ahead quite nicely. This movie, also, suffers less than the first two for not providing key information (How would one know that Palmgren, in "The Girl Who Played with Fire," was her former guardian before the evil Bjurman?).At any rate a most convincing conclusion to the Millennium trilogy. And, alas, unless the partially written fourth novel by Larsson as he died before completion can be filled out and made to work, this is the last we shall see of Salander and Blomkvist and the full cast of characters.

We couldn’t watch this film as it was the wrong region

Can't get enough of anything to do with this series.

This is a fantastic foreign film. When I found it was in Swedish I didn't care to watch it, but after talking to a few individuals who thought highly of the novel I thought about it. It also received great reviews from several critics. Overall this is a great crime film and it's not like typical crime or mystery stories. The story is well written, the actors are well-chosen for the characters and the quality of the film is terrific.I would recommend this film for anyone and I have doubts that the upcoming Hollywood version (to be released in 2011) will be anywhere near as great given the cast that has been chosen. I would recommend watching the original Swedish version.

Item shipped promplty and was received in good condition.I've read the trilogy before watching the movies. and it made the understanding of a few scenes easier.Good sweedish littérature and movies. I recommend both.The movies feature mostly ordinary looking people and not much strikingly handsome stars.Plot is elaborated, there is action, suspense, some unlikely twists and turns, the heroes suffer and the villains finally get it.To watch it in Sweedish with English subtitles provides an exotic ambiance.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is a good movie with some suspense. At first, I got a little bored, another one of those plots.The middle of the movie was so so, but towards the end there were lots of suspense and excitement. The movie is worth watching.