Verdammnis

The weakest entry in the trilogy. Bland and lacking a spark, just your typical made for TV detective film full of initially hard to read schemes. Personally, I prefer a gloomy island with a secret than bureaucratic espionage, especially when it’s so sterile. (01.09.2010)

I don't know if I have changed over the years since watching the first film in the series, or if the quality of the creative team has changed in such a fundamental way, but while I accepted The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with satisfaction and didn't regret buying a ticket to the movie theater, the second part didn't satisfy me in any way, not even as a filler for a late evening shortly before bed. I approached the second part with lower expectations having been informed by sober comments. It's a typical example of a film that doesn't know how to work with its potential and doesn't know how to sell its characters to the audience. It lacks tension, and it lacks atmosphere. The way Alfredson approached directing, he might as well have been filming an unambitious television series episode meant to fill airtime. Moreover, it is clear to me that even the literary source itself does not have the power and value of the first part. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this film is even less than average. I now understand why overseas they only copied The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - they didn't see the commercial potential in the sequel. Overall impression: 45%. (24.09.2017)

Ich freue mich wirklich auf diese Folge in einer Interpretation der amerikanischen Konkurrenz, das wird sehr interessant, denn die Schweden haben hier einige Plots, die die Amerikaner schon in der ersten Folge ausgereizt haben. Hier wacht Lisbeth über die Wiedererlangung ihrer Handlungsfähigkeit, kehrt nach Schweden zurück, kümmert sich um den engen Kreis ihrer Lieben und nimmt sich endlich mehr Zeit für ihre lesbische Freundin. Und sie versucht, die Mordanschuldigung abzuschütteln. Blomkvist ist wieder normal. Aber was ist aus Lisbeths teuflischem Blick geworden, der so ikonisch für sie ist und eine der Hauptattraktionen der Reihe darstellt? Was ist aus der interessanten Detektivgeschichte geworden? Versuchen Sie auf keinen Fall diese Synchronfassung, sonst werden Sie es bitter bereuen. Übrigens ist Lisbeth im amerikanischen Streifen Verblendung 23 und im schwedischen 24 Jahre alt, warum sollte sie also nach eineinhalb Jahren 28 sein? Es ist mir egal, dass Lisbeth in der letzten Folge 27 Jahre alt sein wird. (12.01.2012)

There's no point in tediously philosophising about how much the second film falls short of the excellent first part, because it can be beautifully summed up in one word: significantly. The chilling Swedish setting, the tension between the characters, the clever script, the powerfully escalated plot, and everything that made Oplev's film so unique is only marginally gnawed at here and somehow mysteriously distorted by the American effect hidden behind some of the twists and dialogues. And if the first episode made me wish it lasted a minute or two longer, here there were too many deaf spots that often made me yawn my way to the finale. The positives in the form of Nyqvist and Rapace's performances persist, of course, but the change of director this time didn't do much good. 60% (31.10.2013)

Compared to the first installment there was a huge drop in quality. I'm not saying it was a disaster, but it wasn’t fair of the creators to get me so thrilled by the first film and then fail to deliver in the second one. The problem wasn’t so much in the acting but in the script. It seemed to pull all the interesting bits out of the book but there was nothing to hold them together. Parts of the story just floated freely in space without any context or even logic. It's a shame, the potential of the book got largely wasted and I can't rate it better than a 3-. (04.01.2017)