The Girl Who Played With Fire

In the film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the first novel in the late Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium trilogy, crusading Stockholm journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) teamed up with pierced and tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) to help solve a 40-year-old cold case, engaging in a brief love affair along the way. In this sequel, independently wealthy (after a bit of high-finance hacking wizardry) Lisbeth now has an occasional lover named Miriam Wu (Yasmine Garbi), while Mikael is back at work at his hard-hitting magazine Millennium. Just as the publication is about to run a stunning exposé of prostitution and sex trafficking in Sweden, implicating high-level political figures, its author and his researcher girlfriend are murdered. Unfortunately, Lisbeth's fingerprints are on the gun, which belonged to her vile, abusive guardian, Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), who has also been killed. All evidence for the triple slaying points to Lisbeth, who must elude capture while searching through legal/police records online in an effort to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, Mikael is committed to finding out about Lisbeth's tortured past, a quest that leads him to a conspiracy involving a Russian spy (Georgi Staykov) who defected to Sweden, and his ruthless, hulking blond enforcer/protector (Micke Spreitz). Director Daniel Alfredson effectively condenses Larsson's multilayered tale into a brutal thriller that is once again anchored by Rapace's extraordinary performance as an avenging, androgynous heroine. Recommended. (S. Granger)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Mar. 15, 2011—Music Box, 4 discs, 539 min., in Swedish w/English subtitles, R, DVD: $59.99, Blu-ray: $79.99—Making its first appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo Trilogy compiles The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)—all of which sport great transfers with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The trilogy includes a bonus disc with special features including “Millennium: The Story” featurette (49 min.), an interview with stars Noomi Rapace (20 min.) and Michael Nyqvist (13 min.), additional interviews with cast and crew (13 min.), a “Niedermann vs. Paulo Roberto” behind-the-scenes of a fight segment (10 min.), a poster gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning trilogy.][DVD/Blu-ray Review—Feb. 28, 2012—Music Box, 4 discs, 540 min., in Swedish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $59.99, Blu-ray: $79.99—Making its second appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, Dragon Tattoo Trilogy (Extended Edition) compiles the 2009 films The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest—all of which sport great transfers with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on the DVD versions and DTS-HD 5.1 sound on the Blu-ray release. Bonus features include extended versions of all three films, along with the identical special feature disc carried over from the previous boxed set release, with extras including “Millennium: The Story” featurette (49 min.), an interview with stars Noomi Rapace (20 min.) and Michael Nyqvist (13 min.), additional interviews with cast and crew (13 min.), a “Niedermann vs. Paulo Roberto” behind-the-scenes look at a fight segment (10 min.), a poster gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: likely the definitive release for this phenomenal trilogy.]