Lavonardo

(This is a long overdue review, been so much otherwise occupied that this fell by the wayside).

Saw the middle part of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium-trilogy, Flickan som lekte med elden, and wasn’t quite as impressed as with the first installment. Daniel Alfredson’s film is made for television, and the lower production values than what Män som hatar kvinnor had are apparent.

The plot seems rushed, but that is borne out of necessity. The book is long, the movie cannot afford to explore every nook and cranny of the rambling take of many converging plotlines. A lot has been omitted, but the film still manages to make sense most of the time (and probably leads watchers who have not read the novel to wonder about the gaping holes).

Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander continues to shine, even though the script turns her from a quiet hacker into a Remo Williams-type all around hero. But apart from her and Michael Nykvist as the male protagonist, the cast is mostly forgettable, probably the greatest damage of a much lower budget hit here.

Not bad, but compared to the potential this had, rather a disappointment.

As with the book, this is the first half of a bigger work, and the film cuts off at a very cliffhanger-y moment, laying the path for the third part Luftslottet som sprängdes, due out in Finland on the first of January.