Child 44 (5/10): Anti-Soviet Propaganda in case a new Cold War breaks out.

"There is no murder in paradise.”

Another of my most anticipated films of the year that failed to live up to my expectations. I usually tend to look forward to films based solely on the director, but this time I was excited about the cast: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Noomi Rapace. Child 44 is an adaptation of Tom Rob Smith’s best selling novel directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) set in Stalin-era Soviet Union. Of course it is easily going to be labelled as anti-Soviet propaganda considering it is based on a novel written by a British author and directed by a Swedish director. The screenwriter, Richard Price (The Color of Money), is American and despite being set in Russia no one in the cast is Russian. Child 44 feels like one of those movies that came out during the Cold War trying to prove to the Western world how awful the Soviet communist regime was. You have British and Swedish actors playing Russian characters, but speaking in English with Russian accents because it wouldn’t be as accessible to us if they had them speaking Russian. I’m not a fan of this style of film making and would much rather them stick with the original language, but we probably would miss out on seeing such a talented cast like this if that were so. The accent issue isn’t the greatest problem with this film however, the tone of the movie is inconsistent and there are several tonal shifts that simply make the story drag at times. Child 44 is 135 minutes long and you feel every minute of it. 

Tom Hardy is Leo Demidov, a Soviet military police officer who was adopted at an early age after the death of his parents. By chance he became a war hero thanks to a picture taken of him waving the Soviet flag over Berlin after their victory. Now in the early 50’s he has an important rank working in Moscow as a military officer married to Raisa (Noomi Rapace) and he enjoys sharing the story of how they met with his fellow officers. He’s idealistic and pursues anyone who is against the Stalin regime labelled as traitors. When a young boy is found dead near a train station the officials dismiss the cause of death as simply an accident, but it is evident that the kid was brutally murdered. But of course under the Soviet regime there can’t be any murders because they’re supposedly living in a perfect society. The kid happened to be the son of one of Leo’s friends, Alexei (Fares Fares), and so he begins having his doubts about the cause of death. However that doesn’t go well with Major Kuzmin (Vincent Cassel) who warns him to leave it at that. After successfully capturing a traitor named Anatoly (Jason Clarke), the officers get a list of names of other suspects from him. Raisa happens to be on that list and Leo is asked to testify against his wife and bring her in, which seemed to be a way of testing his commitment to the regime. He refuses to turn her in and is disgraced, demoted, and exiled to a small town near Moscow to serve under General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman). When another child victim is found there in similar conditions, Leo convinces Mikhail to look into it and they secretly begin investigating the case.

The premise of the story is very interesting, but unfortunately this period piece takes its time to introduce each character. I’ve read that the first cut of the film was over 5 hours long and you can tell here that it hasn’t been edited in the best way because there are several tonal shifts throughout the film. Price was given the almost impossible task of adapting the screenplay of this novel without trying to leave any of the subplots out. There are several elements of the story that could’ve been ignored and which would’ve allowed for a much better pacing, but unfortunately every time the thrills began to draw me back to the story they introduced another narrative arc that drowned the pacing once again. If the film focused exclusively on the search for this mysterious serial killer it could’ve been a strong thriller because the performances in this film were all solid. Tom Hardy is great in his role and he alone almost makes the film worth recommending. Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Noomi Rapace, Fares Fares, Paddy Considine, Vincent Cassel are all convincing as well, but they don’t get as much screen time and some of their narrative arcs aren’t as interesting.        

Passion (3/10): Vintage De Palma isn't nearly as interesting.

“I used to want to be admired. Now I want to be loved.”

We can all agree that Brian De Palma directed some of his best films during the 80’s and 90’s (Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito’s Way, Mission: Impossible, and Body Double) and let us not forget about his 1976 classic horror film Carrie, but it has been nearly two decades since he has made a great film. We can make a case for him that he doesn’t nearly direct as much as he used to considering it took him five years to make Passion while in the 80’s he directed nine films and five during the 90’s. However his latest efforts haven’t made much of a splash with critics nor audiences. It may come as a surprise however that Passion has a sort of 80’s retro feel to it and that De Palma included some of his classic trademarks like the split screen, long takes with dolly movements, dopplegangers, and several dreamy sequences. Fans of De Palma might enjoy the fact that in Passion he revists these recurring themes, but at the same time he introduces those elements in such  way that they feel like a parody of his own work. More than a De Palma film, Passion feels like an attempt from one of his fans to honor his past work with deliberately forced dialogue and over the top performances. It is a B-movie, but one I really had a difficult time enjoying. There are ridiculous amounts of twists that make very little sense and I lost interest in the story pretty quickly. 

Passion is actually a remake of Alain Corneau’s 2010 French film, Crime d’amour (Love Crime), starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier, and that film seems far more appealing than this one. De Palma adapted the screenplay for this remake which stars Rachel McAdams as a manipulative advertising agency boss in Germany named Christine. Her protege, Isabelle (Noomi Rapace), proves to be very talented when she comes up for a slick advertising campaign for a cell phone company. Executives in the United States are fascinated by the concept she came up with, but when Christine takes credit for her protege’s work things begin to get complicated between them. It doesn’t help that Isabelle is having a secret affair with Dirk (Paul Anderson), who happens to be dating Christine. No one is actually who they seem to be in this world and things begin to get out of hand pretty quickly when Christine tries to publicly humiliate Isabelle. Caroline Herfuth also plays a secondary role as Isabelle’s assistant with who she is a bit obsessive with.

It only took me about ten minutes into the film to lose much of my interest in the film. The acting was over the top and the dialogue extremely forced, and I know that it was intentional but it didn’t make for an interesting satire either. Passion is a film that obsesses over its style and forgets about its substance. The long takes with dolly movements are incredibly distracting at times and I didn’t feel they served any purpose in the story. The final third act is incredibly dull while trying to be clever layering one twist after another which doesn’t make much sense. I honestly didn’t find any redeeming quality from Passion and couldn’t even enjoy the performances from the talented cast because the story was too painful to get through.         

The Drop (8/10): Tom Hardy delivers an outstanding performance in this criminal thriller

“There are some sins that you commit that you can't come back from, you know, no matter how hard you try. You just can't.”

The Drop is my kind of film and that is why I am able to look past the predictability of the story and simply enjoy the movie for what it is: a low level gangster film with an outstanding cast. If you are the kind of person who prefers spectacular car chases and heavy shooting in thrillers than The Drop definitely isn’t for you because it is a slow burner that requires patience from the viewers. It is more interested in establishing who these characters are and setting the atmosphere and tone of the movie than in focusing on the action scenes. It doesn’t discard the banality of these gangsters day to day life so at times the viewer might feel that it is an ordinary and boring film, but if you stick with the story the ending definitely pays off. I enjoyed that slow buildup and didn’t mind it at all because I loved how the story focused on Tom Hardy’s character arc and was drawn to his performance. The Drop is based on Dennis Lehane’s short story, Animal Resuce, and the screenplay was also adapted by him so I had confidence in the story that was being told. Lehane has written some of my favorite crime thrillers (Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River) so I knew he was going to deliver once again. It might just be another crime thriller that doesn’t stand out from other films in the genre, but if you are a fan of these stories you will have a great time with The Drop.  

The Drop is directed by Michael Roskam and despite not being as groundbreaking as his Oscar nominated Belgian film, Bullhead, it is still one of the best thrillers of the year thanks to the wonderful performances from the cast and the attention to details of the Brooklyn scene. In The Drop Tom Hardy stars as a lonely bartender named Bob. Along with his cousin Marv (James Gandolfini) they run things at a local bar as a cover for dangerous Chechen gangsters. This is just one of the many bars the Chechens use as a cover to drop off all the money from the night’s criminal activities in one place. There are some strong supporting performances from John Ortiz who plays a detective investigating a robbery that takes place in Marv’s bar, Noomi Rapace who thanks to the help of an abandoned puppy warms up to Bob’s lonely persona, and Matthias Schoenaerts a low life criminal trying to con Bob using the puppy. As you can tell the puppy plays an important role in this film and there is something symbolic about its presence in the way it changes Bob’s social life. It’s the cutest puppy I’ve seen on film this year.

The greatest thing about The Drop is without a doubt Tom Hardy’s lead performance. Hardy is establishing himself as my favorite actor. He is such a versatile actor and in this film he reminded me a lot Gosling’s character in Drive. He is sort of retracted and silent, but he conveys so much without saying anything. His character arc is what drives this film. Another reason to watch The Drop is that it’s James Gandolfini’s final performance. He passed away a month after having finished shooting this film. We’ve seen him play this role many times in the past, but he does it so well that I found it a fitting farewell. Schoenaerts is excellent and Rapace plays these dark roles to perfection. John Ortiz also has some interesting scenes and I was glad to see Ann Dowd have a small role as well. I wish she had more screen time. The Drop is worth watching for the cast alone, but it also has a smart screenplay and an interesting atmospheric tone. It’s short of being a masterpiece, but it still is a wonderful film.  

   
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My Review: Dead Man Down (5/10)

¨We're not meant to be alone. You know what she said to me? She said that even the most damaged heart can be mended. Even the most damaged heart.¨

Dead Man Down isn`t your typical revenge film; despite using a common plot device, the way the story is told makes it stand out from other familiar revenge plots. This is Niels Arden Oplev`s first english language film, but it is nothing compared to his wonderful Swedish film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It might not be a fair comparison because that film was adapted from a great Swedish novel so the story was much more engaging than this one. In Dead Man Down, Oplev reunites with Noomi Rapace who gives another solid performance here despite not having such a powerful character. The film slowly builds up until the climatic final 20 minutes combining action with a decent -albeit strange- love story. Dead Man Down could`ve been so much more entertaining, but the pressure from Hollywood producers got to Oplev who had to rush the shooting and the editing. The major problem this film has is really the editing considering there are a lot of pacing issues going on. It takes too much time to build up and certain scenes felt out of place. I still think that the chemistry between Farrell and Rapace as two tortured souls drawn to each other is what makes this movie more bearable. The screenplay was written by J.H. Wyman (from the Fringe TV series and The Mexican). There were several twists here that caught me by surprise, and others which didn`t work too well. The trailer for Dead Man Down made us think we were going to get an action thriller, but in reality it is more of a neo-noir film mixing romance with action. This isn`t a bad movie, I really liked the final 20 minutes, but I felt several things were forced at times which didn`t help the overall pacing of the movie. The less you know about this film going into it, the better.

Plot: Victor (Colin Farrell) is working for a kingpin named Alphonse (Terrence Howard) in New York City. Alphonse has been receiving threats and strange messages so Victor and the rest of the crew have been on the lookout. One of their own appears dead with another message for the kingpin. Surprisingly, Victor is the one responsible for these threats. His family was murdered a couple of years ago when they arrived from Hungary by Alphonse's men. After leaving him for dead, Victor quietly climbed up the ranks and has become Alphonse's right hand man. None of these men actually know anything about his past as he has changed his identity but he is waiting for the perfect moment to have his revenge. In the midst of his revenge plan he meets a troubled neighbor, Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), who he begins going out with. At first they each have a hidden agenda, but they will realize that they may have more things in common than they thought they had.  

I think this film could have had much more potential if Oplev had worked with his European crew, but things are more difficult in Hollywood and the producers usually have the last say (as they did with the trailer which completely marketed this film for a different target audience). Farrell and Rapace had great chemistry together and this isn't your usual romantic action flick. The romance here slowly builds in a rather realistic fashion as they both find a connection through their hurtful and resentful pasts. The action scenes are nothing out of the ordinary, but Farrell has an onscreen persona as an action star. Dominic Cooper has a supporting role and is probably the stand out in that category since so much is centered on Farrell, Rapace, and Howard. Dead Man Down had a decent story somewhere down the line, but the messy editing and weak pacing hurt this movie and makes it feel too fragmented. 

My Review: Prometheus (9/10)

¨How far would you go to get your answers?¨

Prometheus is one of the best movies of the year and in my opinion one of the best science fiction films I`ve seen in a very long time. The visuals were incredible, the characters interesting (very strong performances from Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace), and the suspense was very intense. I was at the edge of my seat during most of the film and was really impressed with the movie overall. I had seen the trailer and didn’t really expect much, since I`ve never seen the Alien films and had heard this was an Alien prequel. However, despite not seeing Alien I have to say that the film works on its own independently. I do want to go back and watch those films now because Ridley Scott did such a great job with this movie. Scott became a household name in 1979 when he directed the first Alien film which became an instant cult classic and followed it up with another great science fiction movie, Blade Runner. Since then his movies have been either hit or miss, with some great titles like Thelma and Louise, Matchstick Men, and Gladiator, and others not as good. He has directed several different genres, but there is no doubt that when it comes to science fiction he brings out the best. His latest film, Robin Hood, wasn`t received very well, although I did enjoy it quite a bit, but not nearly as much as I did Prometheus. The script for this movie was written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof (the writer of my favorite TV series, Lost), and for many it was the weakest part of the film, but I did enjoy some of the dialogue and the philosophy behind it considering this is a science fiction film.

The movie takes place in the year 2089 when two archeologists, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), make an important discovery in a cave somewhere in Scotland. They find ancient hieroglyphics similar to others they`ve found in different unconnected regions of the world from different eras and times. They automatically assume that this has to be a sign that we were created by some sort of a higher being, which they call ¨Engineers¨. The hieroglyphics consist of men signaling towards five stars that are exactly in the same position, which scientists later discover to be in a very distant galaxy with a solar system similar to our own. Elizabeth and Charlie convince a wealthy man named Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) to finance a trip to this planet in order to search for answers about their existence. A crew of 17 members all financed by the Weyland Company travel to this distant planet on a spacecraft named Prometheus. They are put into hyper sleep during the voyage which takes more than two years, while a human like android named David (Michael Fassbender) makes sure everything is running smoothly. Once they reach their destination, David wakes everyone up. The captain of the ship is Janek (Idris Elba) and they all follow orders from Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) who sends the exploration crew out to find any sign of life outside and commands them not to speak to anyone until they return to the ship. The film slowly builds the suspense and tension from this point on as they end up finding something very different from what they were searching for.

There are plenty of scares and thrills in Prometheus and the tension is very well constructed, unlike recent horror films where you have hardly any build up to the story. Many people complain about the script, but I thought it was really well developed with interesting characters and situations. Michael Fassbender gives perhaps the best performance of the film with a very intriguing character who you never know whether you can trust him or not. His performance is among the best I`ve seen this year. Noomi Rapace also gives a very strong performance as the strong female lead role. She proved she can play these difficult roles before (from the Swedish Millennium trilogy) and she is someone to keep an eye on. Idris Elba had some small scenes, but he is always great. Charlize Theron gives a very good performance as the sort of cold and distant Vickers. You never know whether she`s human or an android because of her distant nature, and there is even a joke about it in the movie. The rest of the cast was alright, but never up to par with Fassbender and Rapace. Some of the scientists do act rather immaturely, but I guess that is always a must in science fiction horror films. You always have to have those annoying characters which you don’t really care for or mind having them killed off. Perhaps I enjoyed this film more than others since I haven’t seen the Alien films and didn’t have my expectations as high as them. I will definitely go see those movies now, and I wouldn’t have a problem watching this film all over again.

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My Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (7/10)

¨Slow and steady wins the race. ¨

How can you go wrong with a movie involving one of the best literary detective characters ever? And if that isn`t enough consider having Robert Downey Jr. playing that part. It seems these two guys were meant to go together (although I guess I can say the same thing for him and Tony Starks). Downey Jr. is just a great actor with a perfect sense of comedic timing. Sherlock Holmes isn`t a great movie, but it`s really a lot of fun. It has plenty of action scenes, interesting characters, and a lot of funny moments. Add Guy Ritchie to the mix and you have the perfect popcorn flick. Sherlock Holmes may not be Snatch or Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, but it does live up to the original film. This sequel is perhaps a little lighter and easier to follow which allows for a better pace, but it also is much simpler and the plot pretty plain. What makes this movie stand out from other ordinary action films are the actors and the action scenes. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law have great chemistry together and they share a lot of funny scenes. Jared Harris provided a decent villain who could compete alongside Holmes with his intelligence. Noomi Rapace who really shined in the Swedish Millennium trilogy, doesn`t really stand out in this movie and doesn’t do much since she isn’t given an interesting character. I think she is misused here and it`s too bad because she is really a talented actress. The screenplay written by Michele and Kieran Mulroney is pretty solid. A Game of Shadows is a decent sequel and is a fun movie, but it does have several flaws nonetheless.

We are back in 1891 London right where the first film left us. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) believes that Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris) is responsible for a series of bombings across Europe that is threatening world peace. No one else seems to suspect Moriarty is involved and the press believes a group of anarchists are responsible for the explosions so Holmes decides to investigate on his own. Moriarty isn`t pleased to find out Holmes has been disrupting some of his plans. Irene (Rachel McAdams) continues to work for Moriarty delivering certain packages for people who sometimes end up dead, but Holmes gets in the way a couple of times. Meanwhile, Watson (Jude Law) is back visiting Holmes the day before his wedding expecting to celebrate his bachelor`s party, but Holmes has other plans. He has intercepted a message from Irene for a gypsy named Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace) and wants to find out what the Professor might be planning. At the bar Holmes saves Heron`s life after discovering that Moriarty wants her dead since her brother who works for him has been sending some messages to his sister. Watson doesn`t get the bachelor party he was expecting, but he makes it to the wedding the next morning. The honeymoon will also be interrupted after Moriarty threatens Watson and his wife, so Holmes decides it`s time to save his best friend by throwing Watson`s wife (Kelly Reilly) off the train and having her rescued by his brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry) while he and the doctor try to stop the Professor from beginning a World War.

Like the first film, Sherlock Holmes is very grayish, since that is probably what London looked like during 1891, although this time we get to travel all over Europe as Holmes chases Moriarty from one place to another. The plot is way more simplistic than the first film, but the action sequences are very similar. Ritchie always includes these sort of really fast paces action scenes with a lot of editing (which I`m not a really huge fan of since sometimes it`s hard to follow what`s going on with so much cutting and pasting. There are also some slow motion scenes which are sort of cool looking, but also a bit distracting. I think the best part of the series is the performances from Downey Jr. and Jude Law. This is what makes the franchise work and makes for an entertaining film. The action mixed with the comedy works really well and makes this an enjoyable movie experience. A Game of Shadows isn`t one of the best movies of the years, and it isn`t very memorable either, but it was a lot of fun and much better than other action films. It is very similar to the first film so if you enjoyed that one you will definitely like this sequel, and if you didn`t than I don`t think you will really be interested in seeing this because it follows pretty much the same design. The costume design in this movie is also pretty good, and it was fun to see Robert wearing all sorts of costumes throughout the film. A Game of Shadows is fun and you won`t be disappointed.

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My Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet`s Nest (8/10)

¨It reminds me of Hell in a Greek tragedy. Zalachenko trying to shoot his daughter while her brother helps. Then she returns from the dead to smash an axe into the head of her father.¨

The Millennium trilogy written by the late Stieg Larsson, finally comes to an end with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet`s Nest picking up right where the second one ended. This third installment lives up to expectations and is much better than the second part which served more as a bridge for this movie. I really enjoyed this suspenseful thriller and thought this third part was more up to par with the first one. I still enjoyed The Girl who Played with Fire, but I think that it is very difficult to judge that one on its own because it didn´t have an ending and only served to set up part of the plot for this final third film where we finally get all our questions answered about the secret group that Lisbeth`s father was involved with. The second movie left a lot of inconclusive things, but The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet`s Nest finally gives us all the answers in a little over 2 hours and 20 minutes. The same director (Daniel Alfredson) and screenplay writer (Jonas Frykberg) from the second part of the trilogy are back, but this time they included Ulf Ryberg to help out a little more with the screenplay, and I think that his addition contributed a lot more in order to make this movie flow better (which was one of the weaknesses I found from the previous film). I know that you cannot include everything from the book in a two hour movie, so many people may end up disappointed, but I think the film worked really well on its own. You have to pay close attention to the detailed plot or else you might lose yourself, but that is exactly what makes this such a good, engaging, and smart thriller. The title of this film in Sweden is Luftslottet som Sprängdes, and the exact translation is The Castle of Air that Exploded (just like in the first film the title has been changed in English).

The third part of this trilogy picks up right after the second one ended. Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) is being taken to a hospital on a helicopter after the incident with her father. Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) arrived just in time to save Lisbeth and she begins to be treated in the hospital where they remove the bullets from her hip and brain. She is in a very critical condition, but is still accused for trying to murder her father and will have to face trial once she recovers. Her father, Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov) is alive in the same hospital also in a critical condition. Some members of the clandestine group inside the SAPO, the secret security police which have protected Zalachenko (a former Soviet spy), are worried that he will speak out and therefore try to silence him and Lisbeth. This group was mentioned during the second film, but we now get to know more about them and who they are. Mikael is continuing to gather evidence against this secret organization, which he now calls The Section, and is trying to find the people involved before the trial begins so he can publish it in the Millennium magazine and save Lisbeth from these men who are falsely accusing her. He gets some help from an investigative agency, and together they try to find the evidence they need to bring down the secret group. The Section doesn`t sit still and begin to put pressure on the trial to take place. They kill Zalachenko and get Dr. Peter Teleborian (Anders Ahlbom) to convince the jury that Lisbeth will need to be locked up in his psychiatric institution, St. Stephens, because of her mentally disturbed behavior. In the meantime, Mikael gets his sister Annika (Annika Hallin) to defend Lisbeth during the trial. During the investigation we discover some dark secrets from Lisbeth`s past and meet some dangerous and powerful people. The question is whether they can gather the evidence in time in order to save Lisbeth.

Stieg Larsson passed away before his Millennium trilogy was ever published so he never got to experience the success his novels have had throughout the world. He actually planned to write seven more stories involving Lisbeth and Mikael, but we will never get to read about them. At least we have the three rich books he left us with and that actually give some closure to the series. It would have been a tragedy if we were only left with the second part, but we have the third one and it does conclude everything regarding the existence of the secret group and their conspiracy. It also explains the reason why Lisbeth actually is so withdrawn from society as we discover new things about her past along the way. The third film works really well and Noomi Rapace is once again one of the reasons why this trilogy was so successful. She really played her character to perfection. I think The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is still the best film of the trilogy (a much darker one), but this film also worked really well. I actually enjoyed the parallel action scenes that took place during the trial which reminded me a lot of the famous Godfather baptism scene. I found the ending of the trilogy a very suitable one, and it truly was a remarkable experience to sit through these three movies. Millennium had some great characters, several solved mysteries, good performances, and a lot of thrills. I enjoyed the trilogy very much and recommend it.

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My Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire (7/10)

¨Now the girl with the dragon tattoo will play with fire.¨

The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second part of the Millennium trilogy from Stieg Larsson`s novel which was a huge success in Sweden. The original title of this second installment is Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden, which has the same meaning in English (the other two novels had the title changed in the translation, the first part The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actually was titled The Men who Hate Women). The trilogy is being made into a movie in Hollywood now (directed by David Fincher), but I still recommend the original Swedish versions which are great films. This sequel isn`t nearly as good as the first movie, but it still is a smart thriller that works in most part thanks to the rich characters that Larsson has created. This film is missing some of the beautiful landscape that we got to see in the first movie, the mystery is not as intriguing either, and there aren`t any new interesting characters. I think that the direction and the screenplay has a lot do with why this film didn`t live up to the first one. This film was directed by Daniel Alfredson instead of Niels Arden Oplev, who had directed the first part, and the screenplay was also adapted by a different writer (Jonas Frykberg) so the dialogue doesn`t flow as well as the first movie did. I am glad they didn`t change the actors because that would have been a mess. Noomi Rapace has played one of the most interesting computer hackers I´ve seen on film. She had very difficult scenes, especially in the first one, but she still managed to give a great performance and in this movie we discover a lot more about her past. The success of the first movie keeps us interested in these characters and their story, so the movie still works although some of the original magic is missing.

The film picks up one year after the first one left us and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is back working at Millennium with his crew: Erika Berger (Lena Endre) and Malin Erikson (Sofia Ledarp). A young journalist named Dag (Hans Christian Thulin) is applying for a position at the magazine and tells the crew he is investigating a sex-trafficking ring. Dag gets the position and they guarantee him they will publish his work, but they have to have strong evidence before doing so. In the meantime, Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) is living a luxurious life, but is still haunted by several things from her past. She has been living abroad, but returns to Sweden in order to keep track on her court appointed guardian, Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), who has to continue giving positive reports about her or else she will release the tape she made in the first movie. She hasn`t been answering Blomqvist`s calls and it has been nearly a year since they last spoke. Some people aren`t very happy with the investigation of the sex-trafficking ring since it involves some high powers in government, so Dag is murdered along with his girlfriend. The prime suspect is Lisbeth since her fingerprints are on the murderous weapon that belonged to Bjurman who also is found murdered. Mikael knows Lisbeth is innocent and begins investigating some of the people involved in the ring, while she does some investigating of her own uncovering some dark secrets of her past while trying to stay hidden from the police.

It is hard to review this movie on its own, unlike the first one because that one had a decent ending in itself, but this second part serves more as a bridge to the third film then it does on its own. A lot of elements were left unconcluded and I am guessing they will address them in the third film. I really liked The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo much more than The Girl Who Played with Fire, but I can`t complain too much because I was still entertained by this decent thriller since I wanted to know more about these characters. Lisbeth and Mikael are probably one of the most unlikely duos on film, but they just work so well together and we can`t get enough of them. The villain in this film (played by Micke Spreitz) was kind of creepy and did a good job as well in his role. The producers wanted Dolph Lundgren to play this role, but Spreitz did a decent job. I guess I will have to wait and see how the third film turns out in order to better critique the trilogy, but for now I will just leave this to be continued. I want to see if they investigate more on the sex-trafficking ring because it was not touched very much in this second movie. I still recommend this movie, just don`t expect it to be as good as the first one, and know that this is only a bridge to the third film.

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My Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (9/10)

¨He was a man who hated women¨

Perhaps this quote is what better summarizes the movie which is based on Stieg Larsson`s best selling novel ¨Män som hatar kvinnor¨ which is the first book of the Millennium trilogy he wrote. The title has been translated in English as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a very attractive one, but not as strong as the literary Swedish translation which means The Men Who Hated Women. Larsson died in 2004, before these books were published and became worldwide sensations, but the trilogy was complete and once they were published his first book sold over 8 million copies. Now, his books have been turned into movies and these films have become a great success overseas. A Hollywood remake of these movies are sure to come our way soon, but it would be better to check out the swedish versions first which were all released last year. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was directed by danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev (who directed the danish award winning film We Shall Overcome) and the novel was adapted for the screenplay by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg. The film tried to stay faithful to the novel although there were some changes, but the dark mood and the violent scenes remain. Many people were turned down because of the strong violent and sexual scenes in the film which were very realistic and gruesome, but I think they really helped set the tone of the film and explain the characters motivations. The location of the film also contributed to the overall dark mood and helped build the suspense and tension. This was just one of the best suspense thrillers of the year and reminded me of Fincher`s masterpiece, Se7en.

Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is a journalist who works for Millennium magazine in Sweden and has recently been sued by a business tycoon named Hans-Erik Wennerstrom (Stefan Sauk) for libel against him. The truth is that Blomkvist has been framed and the proof he had against Wennerstrom was false so he is sentenced to three months in prison. He has six months before beginning his sentence and he receives a job proposition from Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), a former CEO of the Vanger group, who lives in an isolated island along with the rest of the members of the rich family. Henrik has hired Mikael because he wants him to investigate what happenned to his disappeared niece, Harriet, who he believes has been murdered by someone in his family forty years ago, although police officers haven`t been able to find any clues over the years. The reason Henrik hasn`t given up looking for the killer is that every year on his birthday he receives a portrait with a flower as a gift from different parts of the world that he presumes is from the killer. He says that the killer has to be someone from the family because there was an accident on the bridge the day Harriet disappeared and no one could get in or out of the island on that day so it couldn`t be an outsider. Henrik loved Harriet very much and took good care of her because her mother was irresponsible and her father died an year before she vanished. Henrik`s brothers were all Nazi sympathizers during the War and he suspects one of them is the killer. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is a computer hacker who is pretty good at what she does, but is a very troublesome teenager who has very poor social skills. She was hired by a security agency to follow Mikael during the trial and became very interested in him even after her work was done. She hacks into his computer and begins helping him with the case. Together they decide to dig back in the past, but someone isn`t too happy about it.

The film works as a very dark and intelligent thriller. I think the film was adapted very well from the suspenseful novel and that the movie has a darker Agatha Christie feeling too it. There are a lot of mysteries to be solved and the lead characters are interesting. Noomi Rapace is the true star of the film and she carries this movie brilliantly as her character is probably the most mysterious of them all, but we begin to understand her motivations as the film progresses and we get glimpses of her past. She gave a terrific performance and her very flawed character still makes for a hero who we sympathize with because she is a victim. I really enjoyed how the movie unfolded and how the mystery was built and resolved. I was expecting for the movie to have an open ending because I knew it was a trilogy, but I was surprised to find out that it actually had a decent closed ending. I really enjoyed this movie and am looking forward to seeing the sequels.

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