Already with remakes underway with David Fincher, the Swedish made features of the bestselling Steig Larsson trilogy draw to a close. Lacking the gravity and dramatic impact of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but certainly an improvement on The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is an apt conclusion to the three movies. While satisfying enough, considering the way in which the first movie screamed its way onto our cinema screens I have to say this finale was a little disappointing.

The film follows Lisbeth through a near death visit to hospital, an upcoming trial for the attempted murder of her father and the ensuing climax of Millenium magazine’s special edition release. She fights through surgery and rehabilitation while the legions of grumpy old men plot to cover up their past political indiscretions at the expense of anyone who gets in their way. The axis of evil old timers swings its rusty axe through allies and enemies alike, and Lisbeth, Blomkvist and their friends duck and dive these desperate, persistent advances. It’s a relatively familiar story. Political corruption, confidential matters of state security and Larsson’s trademark themes of shocking abuse and sex, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest unfortunately comes pretty close to simply fizzling out the last chapters of the story. It’s not all bad though, certainly not unsatisfying, but there could have been more to it. After the first two films the third needed something to drive us to a spectacular finish, not just a satisfactory one.

Lacking the dramatic impact of the first and already much to compensate for after the second (almost boring) instalment, this third movie had a lot to build on and a lot to make up for. It’s almost stuck in a Catch 22, with Alfredson unable to out-direct Oplev’s take on the first, yet craving to improve upon his foray into Larson’s second book. Don’t get me wrong, Rapace (Lisbeth Salander) continues to steal every scene she is in with her moody portrayal of the young, tormented lead lady and Nyqvist’s Blomkvist stays as strong as from the beginning. Yet there is something of the expected edge that is amiss here. The sound is fine, the sets, casting, costume, editing etc. are all on point. Yet the real drama is missing. Alfredson could have put something more into his vision than simply getting the story told.

Watchable, satisfactory and nothing of noteworthy fault, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is a decent but slightly disappointing ending. Definitely worth a watch if you’ve seen the first two, but just don’t expect to be blown away. Now on my mind is how far can David Fincher stretch the franchise and will the new Lisbeth played by Roony Mara (The Social Network) manage to match the airtight performance of Rapace?

6.5/10