The Girl Who Played with Fire

I don't even know how to start this review.... I write a sentence than I delete it and I start another one than delete that... 

This time around I read the book first and saw the movie second.  This is the opposite of what I did with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  In this respect I like the movie of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo better than the book, but I like the book The Girl Who Played with Fire better than the movie.  I'll just have to wait until I read The Girl That Kicked the Hornet's Nest to see how the pattern progresses. 

The Girl Who Played with Fire starts off about a year after the end of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Lisbeth Salander, once again being played to perfection by Noomi Rapace, has returned to Sweden after a year abroad only to suddenly be the main suspect in a triple homicide.  Working to clear her name is Mikael Blomkvist, again played to a t by Michael Nyqvist, who, although he hasn't heard from her in over a year still considers her a friend and perhaps something more. 

At the heart of the murders is a story about sex-trafficking.  One of the deceased was writing a story for Millennium naming names of high profile johns and another had the unfortunate girls' stories as the heart of her dissertation comparing prostitution and society's lack of concern.  The third victim had been a consumer of this industry. 

Comparing the film to the book, I was a bit surprised that they kept in the Paolo Roberto plot-line.  He's a boxer that has a history with Lisbeth and finds himself teamed up with Blomkvist.  Of course, like in any good adaptation, reading the book helps to augment the movie.  The book goes into more detail about Roberto and Lisbeth's history, as well as the police investigation against Lisbeth.  The movie doesn't have the time to delve that deep. 

One thing about the movie is that there is no impression that Lisbeth really is the murderer.  The book leaves a big section ambiguous on that note.  As we all know from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth is capable of murder... or at least of letting someone die that deserves it.  The book does a good job making you wonder if it might have indeed been Lisbeth.  The film does not let you wonder. Neither do the previews for that matter... 

I'll have to give the film another viewing but it was well paced and did as well as could be expected following a novelization.  The acting is still superb and brings back the doubts I have about the David Fincher's American version.  But I guess we'll just have to see.