‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’ Underlines Franchise Limitations

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Now that the third and final installment of Stieg Larsson’s posthumously published, phenomenally popular book series has been turned into a feature film, the questions emerges: ‘Was it worth it?’ To the worldwide box office and the creatively bankrupt Hollywood, of course it was. But were moviegoers truly satisfied by the experience?

I wasn’t, but that’s not to say I didn’t admire aspects of the pictures, particularly the mesmerizing, star-making performance from Noomi Rapace as the titular “Girl.” Her magnetic presence elevates each film whenever she’s onscreen, which is not nearly long enough. After the enticing first tale, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” developed the relationship between two fascinating characters who teamed up to solve crimes, the next two installments frustrate on multiple levels. The characters that audiences loved to see work together are kept apart the entire time at stagnant ends of an exposition-laden puzzle.

Whereas Larsson’s novels were potent page-turners, their cinematic counterparts are both too long and not long enough. Too many scenes consist of extraneous characters commenting on the significance of events that are in the process of unfolding. In the aftermath of a potentially affecting plot twist, one character self-consciously observes, “It’s like a classic Greek tragedy!” Yet the filmmakers never allow the material to acquire that level of dramatic weight. That’s because they’re too busy trying to cram in every last detail from the books that can possibly fit into a feature length running time. There’s simply too much plot here for moviegoers to digest on an emotionally resonant level. At their worst, the films are the equivalent of cinematic SparkNotes, moving too fast to truly engage. It comes as no surprise to learn that the films were originally aired as a TV miniseries, which is unquestionably their ideal format.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest opened Oct. 29 at local theaters.
Photo credit: Music Box Films

“The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” is a slight upgrade from the thoroughly disappointing middle chapter, “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” but it still pales in comparison to “Dragon Tattoo,” which remains the best of the bunch. That film caught fire the instant it paired brooding computer hacker Lisbeth (Rapace) with compassionate journalist Mikael (Michael Nyqvist). Both actors were in peak form, and their chemistry was electric. But by “Hornet’s Nest,” the characters have been separated for such a long time that even the actors appear bewildered about the exact nature of their relationship. When they finally do reunite, the moment reeks of awkwardness. What a letdown.

Though Lisbeth is undeniably the heroine, she is consistently sidelined in her own story. “Hornet’s Nest” opens with a hospitalized Lisbeth recovering from the attack that concluded the previous installment. In that far-fetched episode, Lisbeth was shot and buried by her own father, who’s a part of the “rouge security services group” that comprises this film’s sinister “hornet’s nest” of evil. Yet in “Fire’”s far-fetched climax, Lisbeth dug herself out of her own grave, and attempted to destroy her wicked dad with an axe. Now the bruised but unbreakable girl finds herself accused of homicide, leaving Mikael convinced that her crimes were committed in self-defense. He’s so convinced that he turns the staff at his “Millennium” newspaper into amateur sleuths, much to the chagrin of his co-worker and lover Erika (Lena Endre).

As she finds her life endangered by Mikael’s detective work, Erika asks Mikael why it’s so important for them to be risking everything for this girl. That’s one question that the film never adequately answers, and Nyqvist’s maddeningly solemn performance offers no definitive clues. Rapace is kept offscreen for a large portion of the film, and when she’s on, she isn’t required to say very much. Though her outlandish outfit in the film’s promotional shots seems to promise a great deal of ass-kicking, Lisbeth only ends up wearing it in scenes where she’s seated in a courtroom, looking like Marilyn Manson’s disgruntled ex-wife.

Michael Nyqvist stars in Daniel Alfredson’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
Photo credit: Music Box Films

Yet it’s in those quietly tense moments late in the film that “Hornet’s Nest” truly delivers the goods, allowing justice to finally prevail in deliciously excruciating detail. Viewers will find themselves savoring every subtle nuance that glimmers on Rapace’s hypnotic poker face, which conveys immense elation and horror in the most miniature of movements. The film is also considerably enhanced by the work of Anders Ahlbom as Lisbeth’s perverse doctor, who manages to be a memorable menace in a film packed with villains. He pulls off the tricky task of appearing simultaneously benign and deeply unsettling, as his eyes widen behind lenses that magnify his madness. On the opposite side of the quality spectrum is Niedermann (Micke Spreitz), a hulking killer straight out of a Z-grade Bond picture, who’s incapable of feeling pain or registering an emotion. His greatest asset is that he remains mute.

So much of “Fire” and “Hornet’s Nest” devolves into wall-to-wall dialogue. Director Daniel Alfredson lacks the visual eye and visceral pace that Niels Arden Oplev brought to “Dragon Tattoo,” though even that film could’ve benefitted greatly from some tightening. Larsson’s complex, multi-layered thriller certainly proved to be a taut read, but it still has yet to be proven that the material is indeed filmable. As director of the American remakes, David Fincher is a promising candidate, since he’s previously proven his skill at making dialogue-heavy scenes rivetingly cinematic (as witnessed in “Zodiac” and “The Social Network”). And it will be mightily interesting to see how fresh-faced Rooney Mara fares in the lead role, especially since Rapace has left her indelible stamp on it. This series may have been flawed in a variety of ways, but it was Rapace’s mysterious, captivating portrayal that ultimately kept viewers hooked the entire way through. That girl is on fire.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com matt@hollywoodchicago.com