“The Girl Who Played with Fire,” continues thrilling tradition of Larsson’s trilogy

Last year, I was among the millions captivated by the Swedish film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," from director Niels Arden Oplev.

An adaptation of the first novel from the late Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" proved to be an immensely engrossing and suspenseful crime thriller.

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" is the cinematic continuation of Larsson's scribed saga, picking up immediately where the previous film left off.

This time around, Daniel Alfredson takes the reigns as director, attempting to fulfill the substantially skillful shoes of Oplev with limited success.

Alfredson captures the characters with an intimacy resembling that of the previous film, engaging the viewer within the human element that is so critical to the story's magnetic pull.

However, despite such diligent efforts to match the brilliance and intensity of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played with Fire" suffers from the storyline's structural inadequacies, which largely stem from the second novel's inferiority to its predecessor.

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" begins by reintroducing Lisbeth Salander, superbly played by Noomi Rapace.

Rapace's captivating performance, as in the original, marks the film's highlight, portraying the heroine through an inescapably enchanting mixture of sensuality with brains and brawn.

The female protagonist forcefully commands attention, greatly overpowering the mercilessly misogynistic men that dare cross her path.

Her vigilante justice is as satisfying as ever, with one notably tactful taser shock cooking her adversary's crotch until charred.

The narrative centers on Lisbeth's attempts to clear her name after being falsely accused of a string of homicides.

She is aided from afar by Mikael Blomkvist, once again played by Michael Nyqvist, who stirs up another scrumptiously splendid serving of screen presence in his second-go-around as the rogue investigative journalist.

As the film progresses, the two independently uncover secrets surrounding the murders that have much larger implications for the character's lives.

Even with an extended running time of more than two hours, the narrative moves at a rapid pace in an attempt to comprehensibly condense all of the events of the novel.

The result is an intricately engineered film that requires an attentive viewing in order to fully grasp the gravity of the circumstances.

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" works well as an expansion upon the story and characters created in the previous installment, yet fails to flourish in its own regards as a stand alone film.

Those familiar with Lisbeth and Mikael's preceding venture will be pleased to reunite with the characters with whom they have become so intimately attached, even if the trials they face are not as transfixing this time around.

Newcomers to the series may feel a bit disoriented by the wealth of characters and events frequently alluded to, without adequate knowledge of the earlier affairs to anchor them within the film's context and make them as deeply invested as returning viewers.

Though "The Girl Who Played With Fire" fails to live up to the high standard set by its predecessor, the film's compelling characters and the insight gained into their pasts is more than enough to entice fans of the original to return for the second chapter of Stieg Larsson's celebrated "Millennium Trilogy."

mikehollins@dailynebraskan.com