Dragon Tattoo Sequel ‘Fire’ Is No Typical Whodunit
A newbie named Dag joins the Millennium magazine team, that group of writers who fight for that noble, yet nearly extinct, pursuit of investigative journalism, headed by Mikael Blomkvist (played again by Michael Nyqvist). Dag comes to the team with a story he’s researching about sex trafficking. When Dag calls Blomkvist about a possible gangster connection Blomkvist heads over to meet with him. When Blomkvist arrives at Dag’s apartment, he finds Dag and his girlfriend murdered. Found near one of the bodies is a gun that happens to belong to Lisbeth Salander’s guardian, that creepy individual who gave Salander another reason to be wary of men. The plot thickens when Salander’s prints are found on the gun. Salander (played again by the incomparable Noomi Rapace) is further implicated when her guardian also turns up dead. Now, while some are trying to locate Lisbeth’s whereabouts, Blomkvist, one of her only friends who believe in her innocence, is trying to find the men who set our tattooed heroine up.
The Girl Who Played with Fire is aptly named as it refers to an event from Salander’s past. As is the case with most tortured heroes or heroines, the past comes back in this chapter to haunt her. It is because of this that The Millennium Trilogy may well be the only mystery series that is actually a character-driven saga rather than simply a series of episodic whodunits. And Fire is most certainly the middle chapter of a three part story, complete with a cliffhanger ending. The only downside is it doesn’t stand on its own as well as its predecessor, which served as an engaging mystery with equally engaging characters. It is absolutely necessary to see …Dragon Tattoo before …Played with Fire. This movie, while balanced with a fine mystery, is primarily about its lead characters; Blomkvist’s unwavering loyalty to Salander and what events made her the complicated cyber punk she is.
Part three, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, appears to mainly be about the consequences of this entry’s events (will Salander’s name be cleared?) and tying up the mystery’s loose ends. As a result, I fear the trilogy may not live up to the promise its first chapter made, thus leaving us wishing we’d learned more about mystery’s most enigmatic heroine. But surely Mikael’s current affair will run aground and we’ll at least have closure on his relationship with Lisbeth, whatever it may be.
You typically only hear concern of this kind over bestselling page-turners. It’s no wonder the source novels are such a sensation. However, the fact that the focus of these movies is more about the characters solving the mystery than the mystery itself should not go unnoticed as it is new ground for this genre of film. It is as though the moniker “The Millennium Trilogy” is not only referring to the journalist magazine, but also that it is a mystery series for a new era.
Regardless, it’s refreshing to eagerly anticipate the next film the way one would with the new installment of a hot series of novels. Chapter three hit art houses the same week chapter two hit DVD queues. I’ll be keeping an eye out for that Girl wherever she may show up next.
7/10
Should you see it? Rent (after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
The Girl Who Played with Fire is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD.