Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest (2010)

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST (CINEMA)

Release Date: November 26th, 2010
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 147 minutes
Language: Swedish with English subtitles

Director: Daniel Alfredson

Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace

The third and final part of the Swedish trilogy based on the best-selling ‘Millennium Trilogy’ novels by Steig Larsson brings Lisbeth Salander’s story to a close.

We last saw our heroine shot in the head and left for dead following the events which took place in The Girl Who Played Fire. This concluding part opens with Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) being airlifted to hospital with Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) by her side.

Lisbeth is taken to intensive care where they try to retrieve the bullet lodged in her brain. A few doors down the corridor lies her father, the evil Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov), hospitalised for the injuries he sustains after his meeting with Lisbeth. After her surgery, Lisbeth remains in hospital recovering before facing trial for three murders and one attempted murder. Mikael is once again on her side and is determined to clear her name no matter the cost to himself or his colleagues and his sister Annika (Annika Hallin) begins working as Lisbeth’s lawyer.

Meanwhile, the men who previously covered up for Zalachenko decide its time to tie up the loose ends and send in someone to silence both Zalachenko and Lisbeth. When they only half succeed in their attempt, they decide to start targeting the Millennium Group. They also send in Dr. Peter Teleborian (Anders Ahlbom) to perform a psychological analysis with the intention of diagnosing Lisbeth as mentally incompetent so they can put her away, just as they did when she was 13 years old.

Elsewhere, Lisbeth’s half-brother, the psychopath Niedermann (Micke Spreitz) is still at large and leaving behind a trail of bodies as he bides his time.

With so many plotlines coming together for the last time, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is a fitting conclusion to an enthralling story. From everything we’ve seen Lisbeth suffer at the hands of powerful and corrupt men, we finally get to see justice served but there are quite some plot points which fail to make sense.

For example, Mikael is called as a key witness in Lisbeth’s defence, but with his sister serving as defence lawyer, there seems to be a conflict of interest. Further on in the movie, Annika has drawn up a list of all of Zalachenko’s estates and holdings yet the police never check them out despite the fact that Niedermann is still at large. And let’s not leave out the beginning with both shooter and victim a few doors down from each other at the hospital without any security on guard. These are just a few loose points I found with the story, but despite these, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is definitely worth seeing if you’ve already become engrossed in the Millennium story so far.

Unapologetic, brutal and compelling, it’s Lisbeth’s final stand and it’s worth seeing.