I did not see yet the American remake version of the first series in the ‘Millennium’ adaptation. I am hearing good things about it, but frankly speaking I enjoyed so much the Swedish version that I am a little bit reluctant to have my visual image of the heroes and the cinematographic version of the landscape where the action happens replaced or confused by something else. In the meantime I saw this third and final series in the version directed by Daniel Alfredson and based on the novels completed by Stieg Larsoon. I am happy with what I saw.
source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343097/
This third installment misses some of the elements that made the first and also the second film in the series special. We now know almost every about the traumatic past of Lisbeth Salander, and as she is recovering from neurosurgery we can guess that she will face another set of troubles due not only to the conspiracies of the people and institutions that want her reduced to silence, but also to her own character. Missing also is some of the frozen far North landscape, the action takes place this time in the short and lovely Scandinavian season which as pleasant as it may be for the locals does not feature that well on screen as the endless chilly landscape in the first film. The new element that is introduced instead is a conspiracy theory story in which the heroes need not only to solve mysteries, but also face forces beyond their control that try to destroy them for reasons of ‘national security’. The good news is that all these play well together, make sense both from a story telling perspective, as well as from a characters development and dynamics point of view. This last (?) installment of the ‘Millennium’ trilogy may contain less characters suspense, as we already know the heroes, but moves the action in the political and psychological thriller and court drama territories, and does it in a solid and yet sensitive way.
(video source simarchetto)
Much is of course to be said – again – about the splendid acting of Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth and of Michael Nyquist as journalist Mikael Blomqvist. They are so credible inside their characters skins that it’s hard to imagine them in other roles, or the characters with other faces than theirs (this may be one of the reasons I am in no hurry to see the American version). The team of journalists at the ‘Millennium’ redaction provide good support, with their fears in face of the real dangers they face. In the quiet and civilized Scandinavian democracy, danger and violence surface in a manner that is hard not only to contain but also to believe for the local characters. This contrast adds one more level of interest to this more than satisfying ending of the trilogy.