Film Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Posted on the 29 April 2013 by Donnambr @_mrs_b
About The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is the third and final film adaptation of the best-selling Millennium trilogy written by the late Swedish author, Stieg Larsson (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire). In this last installment, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge – against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest brings back Noomi Rapace in the starring role of the pierced and tattooed genius computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist, the crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, and Lena Endre (Erika Berger) the editor of the magazine and Blomkvist’s occasional lover.

Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Annika Hallin, Jacob Ericksson

Directed by: Daniel Alfredson

Runtime: 148 minutes

Studio: Music Box Films Home Entertainment

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Review: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest 

I’m still to read Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy but I’ve certainly been enjoying the film adaptations, the Swedish ones of course! The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was superb, The Girl Who Played With Fire was good but not up to the standards of its predecessor. That leaves The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. With a tear of regret in one eye and sat down the third and final installment of what I hoped would be a wonderful trilogy.

The film picks up where the second one ended with Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) being taken to hospital with gunshot wounds as his father, Alexander Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov), who is feeling worse for wear after being hit with an axe! Lisbeth’s half-brother, Niedermann (Micke Spreitz), is at large. Lisbeth soon finds herself on trial for the murders that she was accused of in the previous film but that’s just the start of her problems. While in hospital, Lisbeth and her father are targeted for assassination and although Lisbeth evades the slaughter her father isn’t so lucky! On trial she comes up against the fearsome Dr. Peter Teleborian (Anders Ahlbom) who is charged with ensuring Lisbeth is committed to prevent any secrets about the clandestine organisation – Section – getting out. Once again, Lisbeth has to put her faith in journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and his sister Annika (Annika Hallin) but will Lisbeth escape being committed or imprisoned for murder?

Following straight on from the second film we’re quickly up and running with The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. Lisbeth finds a guardian angel in the hospital in the form of  Dr. Jonasson (Aksel Morisse) who prevents anyone seeing Lisbeth save her lawyer and even sneaks luxuries like pizza in for her. He clearly has a soft spot for our hacker heroine. All is now well for Lisbeth outside the hospital though. Ageing members of the Section – Evert Gullberg (Hans Alfredson) and Frederik Clinton (Lennart Hjulstrom) – unite and agree to silence Lisbeth and her father. Gullberg infiltrates the hospital and kills Lisbeth’s father but is prevented from completing his mission and thus kills himself. With Clinton remaining to stop Lisbeth he turns to the psychiatrist Teleborian to assess Lisbeth and have her committed to an institution. It is down to Blomkvist to dig deep and compile evidence Lisbeth needs for her case while his sister Annika (dead ringer for Daisy from Spaced) chooses to represent Lisbeth in court.

This manages to be a thrilling conclusion to the Millennium trilogy. While Lisbeth does her best to evade assassination in hospital and later in prison, both Blomkvist and Annika are also put in the firing line by trying to protect her. Somehow we make it to the trial and what a spectacle it is. Lisbeth arrives for her court appearance dressed in black, with dark makeup, piercings and a very funky Mohawk hairstyle. She has compiled an autobiography to be presented in court of her turbulent life both as a girl and later as an adult, especially the horrific rape she suffered at the hands of her so-called guardian Bjurman, one of the people she is on trial for murdering. Lisbeth and Annika have to face off against Dr Teleborian who dismisses Lisbeth’s autobiography as the workings of an insane mind and pleads with the court for her to institutionalised. How it all turns out is somewhat predictable but you’ll be cheering by the end.

The performances are very good once again. Rapace makes Lisbeth her own character while Nyqvist looks completely at ease in his role while Hallin slots in nicely as his sister and Lisbeth’s lawyer. Spreitz manages to be just as imposing as the seemingly unstoppable Niedermann and an ill-fated reunion between him and Lisbeth is more than worth the wait. The film sadly frustrates with an open-ended conclusion which I won’t mark it down for but it is annoying. This is a terrific way to bring the curtain down on the Millennium trilogy. It’s not as good as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but fans of the first two films should certainly find little to complain about here.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is a tense and exciting thriller, and apt way to conclude a trilogy that has been a pleasure to watch from start to finish. The series peaks with the first instalment, dips slightly with the second but finishes strongly with this third and final film. These are must-see films, especially ahead of the American ones.

Verdict: 4/5

(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)

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