This was a movie that was so lacking in soul, so devoid of personality, so empty and heartless it almost defied imagination. For one Claire Voy has been the weakest protagonist to date within this series. Both Naomi Rapaci and Rooney Mara did a much better job. There were so many leaps of faith in this film that it required an actress with far more gravitas to convince us that she was capable of a fraction of what she did. The plausibility factor in this film was the lowest of any in the series.
The direction was poor, the soundtrack was vapid, and there was nothing about this movie that was compelling. Spoiler alert - after she did not kill the bad guy halfway through the movie it was very difficult to stick with the remainder of story.
Cue much rampant Nordic plottiness and whizzing mayhem in and around Stockholm. Weirdly, halfway through a car chase there is suddenly snow on the roads. It's all shot by director Fede Álvarez through a frosty monochromatic filter. The monochrome has seeped into the characterisation of all the characters. Zero humanity. Claes Bang, so nuanced in The Square, and Vicky Krieps, mesmerising in Phantom Thread, get by on the thinnest gruel.
As for Lisbeth, she is a rare combination of thug and geek, who can amply thwack and cattle-prod but also crack through airport's firewall with a nifty clickety-click. But, she does not convince. Not for a moment. Despite having a female boom buddy, a soft spot for old journo buddy Mikail Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) and the whole sibling problem, there's almost no hinterland for Foy to work with. Some affecting last-minute tears are not enough to spring this Lisbeth from the cryo-chamber. Yikes. Save 2 hours of your life and watch something decent, this is cinematic garbage.
The direction was poor, the soundtrack was vapid, and there was nothing about this movie that was compelling. Spoiler alert - after she did not kill the bad guy halfway through the movie it was very difficult to stick with the remainder of story.
Cue much rampant Nordic plottiness and whizzing mayhem in and around Stockholm. Weirdly, halfway through a car chase there is suddenly snow on the roads. It's all shot by director Fede Álvarez through a frosty monochromatic filter. The monochrome has seeped into the characterisation of all the characters. Zero humanity. Claes Bang, so nuanced in The Square, and Vicky Krieps, mesmerising in Phantom Thread, get by on the thinnest gruel.
As for Lisbeth, she is a rare combination of thug and geek, who can amply thwack and cattle-prod but also crack through airport's firewall with a nifty clickety-click. But, she does not convince. Not for a moment. Despite having a female boom buddy, a soft spot for old journo buddy Mikail Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) and the whole sibling problem, there's almost no hinterland for Foy to work with. Some affecting last-minute tears are not enough to spring this Lisbeth from the cryo-chamber. Yikes. Save 2 hours of your life and watch something decent, this is cinematic garbage.