I am going to miss Lisbeth Salander. Yeah, I know there's a stateside remake of all three films coming by director David Fincher and starring David Craig and Rooney Mara but that will definitely not be the same as this original Swedish production of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. It will not have Michael Nyqvist as Mikael who has a quiet intensity that he brought to his role. Here is a man who will not stand down to anyone even when it comes to his own safety or unfortunately to ones he loves as well. It's the kind of roles that a lot of males in foreign films portrays as where everything's not solved with fists like in so many u.s. films. His performance in these films were astonishing and I urge everybody (including me) to see more of his films past, present, and future. Of course these films wouldn't have been so captivating without a strong central character such as Lisbeth Salander and I have to say here that Noomi Rapace simply owns this character and no matter what happens in the U.S. versions it won't matter I'm afraid, she's still going to own the character as she IS Lisbeth and no other. When she's on screen it's electric due in no small part to Noomi's acting ability and delivery to the moviegoer to care about this girl who has been so damaged by sick male assholes who used power to control her for so long. Yet she retained a fierce individuality carved out for herself when her back was against the wall. It is then when she came out fighting. This is an epic trilogy, which although the first one for me got 5 stars (the second 4 stars and this one 4 1/2 stars) I could easily see these all get 5 stars with repeated viewings. In this film it starts as soon as the second film ends. I won't tell you what has happened but as Shawn and I were talking while the credits were rolling we both thought we had seen three unique and different films. The first film was definitely played out like a mystery as Mikael was trying to find a person that has been missing for years. And I would say the central core of the first film is coming from Mikael's perspective while the other two are definitely Lisbeth's vehicles. The second film had a bit more of an action feel to it and is always the hardest one to pull off in a trilogy because there's no beginning and no end to the story. It just has to keep moving along and in this trilogy the second film did with no problem at all by bringing in even more interesting characters and situations. Which brings us to film number three which we find out even more about abused power, secret organizations, and later in the film, a very solid courtroom drama unfolds. It's rare that movies make you care about characters this much. It usually takes a multiple part series to do this. That's why we like tv series, because the emotional investment is much greater because you see these characters for 12-18 episodes at least, sometimes multiple seasons, sometimes years even. That's why, in a span of just three films, to have these people so defined by these characters is simply remarkable. I cannot recommend this more to people who want to see a wonderful trilogy which deals with ADULT subject matters and situations with heart, emotion, and career making performances from Noomi Rapace & Michael Nyqvist. Amazing.
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