Stieg Larsson: Millennium Trilogie

I confess that I'm not sure what to think, but I believe this series in six episodes is, in fact, the television adaptation of an "extended version" of the three original films of Millennium trilogy. So, basically what I said in the reviews I made for each of the three films is perfectly suited for the respective episodes in this series. So I will try to be brief now.

The plot is well known and follows Lisbeth Salander, an irreverent young woman with a troubled past, strongly marked by instability and a family uprooting, which the series explains and explores. She is a punk, a hacker, has a prodigious memory and will establish an unusual friendship and collaboration with journalist Mikael Blomkvist, an extremely upright man who will be the victim of persecution, right in the first chapters, for telling uncomfortable truths. The first chapters will address a joint investigation that they will both do on a female killer, while the rest of the series will focus on Salander's family and personal past, and how she will fall victim, too, to an attempt at conspiracy at the highest level.

The series is extremely good, as good were the films that are at its origin. However, it is a very uneven series, which starts wonderfully and decreases in quality and interest. The work of director Daniel Alfredson, who directs the first two films, leaves much to be desired when compared to the careful direction of Niels Arden Oplev, who worked on the first film (corresponding to the first two episodes of this series). However, it is worth keeping track of because the story really is intriguing and mysterious enough to keep us stuck until the end.

The cast is equally good, and there are several characters who appear more or less fleetingly. Personally, I would highlight Noomi Rapace's extraordinary interpretation, which brought Lisbeth Salander to life in a way that I think will never be equaled. She is intelligent, sensitive but also provocative, brutal and aggressive when provoked. At his side, in stark contrast, the quiet journalist played by Michael Nyqvist, in an extremely noble and dignified way. I also really liked the work of Lena Endre, who gave life to Erika, editor of Millennium magazine who has a multi-year affair with Blomkvist, and Georgi Staykov, who brought one of the great villains of the series to life in a genuinely threatening way.

At a technical level, the series is a little uneven. The first episodes are extraordinary and everything comes together to create an atmosphere of tension and mystery that works wonderfully. From cinematography to sets and costumes! But from then on, things don't go so well, and it is only in the end that this environment will be recreated again, and in a rather lame way, with all the material suffering from a very un-cinematic appearance. Overall, the sets and costumes are good, and the choice of filming locations worked perfectly. The action scenes invite good visual effects, which almost always worked well. I really liked the initial credits, with all the excellent drawings and graphics, and the way the soundtrack was being used.

I haven't read the books so can't comment on how faithful this 9 hour version is compared to the 3 theatrical release versions. However, I understand them to be largely faithful. It has been over 10 years since I first watched the Girl films, but the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remains one of my favourite films ever. The hollywood remake was also perfect, however, for its Swedish origins and a more perfect Lisbeth in Noomi Rapace, the original remains as good as ever. With 30 minutes more footage in it, this first story felt even better, especially the first 90 minutes which is better paced and we see more of Lisbeth and Michael working together and more detail about how they solved the crime. So if you are going to watch the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo then watch the version in this miniseries, it is better than the theatrical release.

Similarly, if you are going to watch the other two movies, then it is better to watch the extended versions available in this series as the pacing is better and explanation of the plot (which can get intricate at times) is clearer. However, in my opinion the 2nd and 3rd stories just don't live up to the quality and entertainment of the 1st one. This is a criticism of the source material probably rather than this adaptation. Everything that I and others love about Dragon Tattoo is the mystery, as well as the fledging relationship between Lisbeth and Michael. The 2nd and 3rd stories have much less mystery and virtually no character development between Lisbeth and Michael as they have very little time spent together. Nevertheless, as a fan of the first story and therefore the characters, it is interesting to see more unfold about Lisbeth's back story and how her friends work together to protect her from evil forces.

Dragon Tattoo: 10/10 Played with fire: 8/10 Hornets nest: 7/10.

Okay, so I came late to the party, but the Millennium trilogy became this summer's read. I was a little intimidated by three books which are 600 to 700 pages in length each, but after The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo finally picked up the pace and became a "page-turner", the last two books went very quickly. Ultimately, The Girl Who Played With Fire became my favorite of the three.

So next I started watching the films beginning with the American version of TGWTDT. It was really good, but in my reading of the book I envisioned Liam Neeson, not Daniel Craig. Then I watched the first of the Swedish films. I was kinda surprised at how different they were and I preferred some things about the Swedish version, but I thought the American version was a little better overall.

Then I picked up The Girl Who Played With Fire on DVD at my local BlockBuster (like I said, I came a little late to the party). Since TGWPWF was my favorite of the three books, I was crushed when I saw how badly they had chopped up the story and action.

At this point, I started browsing IMDb.com for background info on the film and came across a member's comments about a 6-part Swedish mini-series. Apparently, the original intention was to present the trilogy as six 90-minute episodes on Swedish television, but the money-making potential for a theatrical release became too great. So everything was re-edited into three feature length films.

The kicker is this guy says that TGWPWF lost an hour of its original footage on the cutting room floor. Now I gotta get a look at the mini-series version, but my BlockBuster (yes, we still have one) doesn't carry it. So I ask a friend who isn't as cheap as me, to look it up on her NetFlix account. HOORAY! It's available for streaming! I bring the food and she supplies the wine and we sit through the middle three hours of the Millennium Trilogy (parts 3 & 4).

OUTSTANDING!!!! I mean not quite as good as the book (production values, casting, etc.), but soooo much better than the Swedish theatrical release. I mean absolutely no comparison with the other version.

I'm a glutton for punishment. So the next night I watch TGWKTHN on Blu-ray (Hey…how come it's in 4:3 format? Oh yeah…filmed for TV.) Really good. Liked it lots.

One more night, back over to my NetFlix friend's place with dinner and watched episodes 5 & 6 of the trilogy. I gotta admit that the 3rd book was my toughest read. I thought it bogged down in all the SAPO Swedish Secret Police minutia. Well, turns out so did episode 5 & 6. They were good and the background info was helpful, but the pacing (like the book) made it a slow-go. Without spoiling it the final 45 minutes are excellent, but it's a long way to go to get there.

I'm a little burned out on Millennium right now, so I'm not gonna go back and watch those first two TV episodes 1 & 2 for a while yet. But when I do, it will be interesting to see if they improve upon the original Swedish theatrical release version of TGWTDT.

In summary… 1. I liked both the American and Swedish versions of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, with a small preference for the American version. (I'm a motorcycle guy, so I definitely liked her vintage bike better.) 2. The theatrical release of The Girl Who Played With Fire is crap. Bypass this one for episodes 3 & 4 of the Swedish TV mini-series. 3. I'll give the nod to the theatrical release of The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, but not by much. If you really liked all the SAPO details from the book, then go for episodes 5 & 6 of the mini-series.

At this point, I can't wait to see how the American versions of the 2nd and 3rd films turn out. These two books are really just one extended story, so I hope they film them simultaneously and bring them out pretty close together.

Everytime they changed something from the books, I was a bit dissappointed and sometimes evem frustrated. Also the characters even the main ones fall short to the ones from the book. But when you look at it just as a movie-trilogy it is told in a captivating way, with a good pacing and good actors. The last one was my personal favourite of the three.

An improvement over and already brilliant story. The serialized story benefits greatly its development. So masterful and engaging.