The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

The final instalment in the Millennium trilogy has arrived in our cinemas, marking our last date with the original film series before the publicity for David Fincher's 2011 remake begins in earnest. Emma Rowley takes a look at the way things turn out for the girl with the dragon tattoo.

It's funny how certain characters outgrow their fictional environments. The popularity of the Millennium film series was never really down to the qualities of the individual films, though the first one was a good thriller in its own right, but to the character of Lisbeth Salander, brought to life by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace. Like Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple, she's an iconic crime character made with a particular recipe: one part stereotypical figure, one part incomparable intellect, one part idiosyncratic invention. Blend together and observe the disconcerting effect on supporting characters. As such, the films that starred her are secondary to her draw, something that became apparent after the release of the first, disappointing sequel.

The closing film kicks off amid the whirring of helicopter blades. A medical copter flies both Lisbeth Salander and her father, both seriously injured, to a hospital where they begin to recuperate only rooms away from one another. With Lisbeth charged with the attempted murder of her father, her enemies, the elderly S.A.P.O. conspirators, creak into life – initiating a series of increasingly desperate protocols in an attempt to safeguard their secret, now in danger of coming to light in the glare of attendant publicity. Meanwhile, Lisbeth herself is out of action, not only wounded but under guard throughout her recovery until she can be be moved to prison to await trial, so it is up to her friends (Blomkvist, his sister Annika who takes on the case, the doughty Plague) to seek justice on her behalf. But the conspirators' focus has widened and it's not only Salander who is a target now. Erika Berger and the Millennium staff are publishing an exposé of the entire plot and become subject to the conspirators' attacks, leaving Blomkvist torn between his need to find justice for Lisbeth and his fears for the safety of his lover and colleagues.

The third film has its own impressively repugnant villain, introduced at the close of The Girl Who Played with Fire. Like Henrik Vangar and Nils Bjurman, Dr Teleborian is a sadistic exploiter of the vulnerable. But while for Vangar it was penniless immigrant women and Bjurman his mentally and legally incapacitated charges, Teleborian enjoys power over young girls. But he is more than happy to make an exception for Salander, who was first put into his care at the age of twelve, and whom he now tries to have locked up under his supervision forever. While the series is well-known for its scenes of extreme violence, what it's really interested in is dispensing its own version of justice – in which the archetypal victims of suffering get to turn the tables on their hypocritical and well-connected oppressors – something it doles out to satisfying effect in this last chapter. The first novel and film were originally released under the title Men Who Hate Women, which pretty much spells out the overarching theme of the films (though it could be subtitled thus: ...And The Women Who Nail Their Feet To The Floor).

But there's good news for audience members who found the first two films a little too graphic. Much of the punishment dished out in this film is of the legal variety and bloodshed is largely implied or relegated to gun battles.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is a more engaging film than its predecessor, in part because of Salander's climactic trial, in which she finally speaks out against her enemies and where the loose plot threads are gathered up. The film plays on courtroom thriller conventions to entertaining effect – the high-handed prosecutor, the game-changing piece of evidence and the final, key witness all have their moments – without succumbing to the obvious clichés.

Nonetheless, it doesn't nearly reach the heights scaled by the first film. It's overstuffed with plot and new characters who don't get enough screen time to stick, while at the same time it feels over-long and dragged out to diffuseness. And fans might find that the final goodbye is just a little too offhand to provide a comfortable resolution to a film series they followed for seven and a half hours.

Rating on a scale of 5 geriatric conspirators: 3

Release date: UK & US – out now
Directed by: Daniel Alfredson
Written by: Ulf Ryberg, Steig Larsson 
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Annika Hallin, Anders Ahlbom, Tomas Köhler, Micke Spreitz
Rating: UK: 15; US: R
Running time (mins): 147

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