THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE — ★★ — Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist; with English subtitles (Swedish and European dialects); rated R (violence, sex, gore, torture, nudity, profanity, slurs); Broadway Centre
"The Girl Who Played With Fire" is a direct sequel to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," the adaptation of the first of author Stieg Larsson's best-selling, "Millennium" book trilogy.
And like that earlier film, this one features sometimes-grueling, often-upsetting violent content that stops short — but only barely — from showing the kind of things you expect to see in supposed "torture-porn" thrillers.
However, "Dragon Tattoo" offset that by having a complex mystery at its core, and with solid character work. This follow-up feels story and character thin, and it has a curiously exploitative feel to it.
It's almost as if the filmmakers are trying to shock audiences, and there are parts of the movie that will do that. But it's not a particularly enjoyable experience.
Noomi Rapace reprises her role as computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
Lisbeth may have been living in a state of semi-seclusion for nearly a year, but there have been a lot of people looking for her during that time.
They include her former lover, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a journalist who's investigating the murder of a younger colleague, Dag Svensson (Hans-Christian Thulin)
Dag was working on story about street prostitutes and some of their well-connected clients. That apparently made him some powerful enemies, who had him killed. And, because she was connected to at least one of the prostitutes, Lisbeth finds herself a prime suspect.
Director Daniel Alfredson doesn't have as deft a touch as his predecessor, "Dragon Tattoo" maker Niels Arden Oplev.
And under his direction, Rapace seems a little uncomfortable and out of sorts.
(Alfredson also directed the already-produced third movie in this series, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," so we'll see if he makes some needed adjustments.)
"The Girl Who Played With Fire" is rated R and features strong, often disturbing violent content and imagery (gunplay and shootings, beatings, brawling and fisticuffs, some automotive mayhem and violence against women), scenes depicting sexual violence (including a brief sexual assault, seen in flashbacks), simulated sex and other sexual contact (both gay and straight), gory and bloody imagery, a torture scene, female and partial male nudity, strong sexual language (profanity), and derogatory language and slurs (some of them sexist in nature, others based on sexual orientation). Running time: 129 minutes.
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