It’s been less than six months since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was released, the first in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, but it seems the world just can’t get enough of Salander and Blomkvist. The eBooks have been the first to pass the one million mark and now Hollywood is “recreating” the original film with Daniel Craig as the lead actor. So it’s good to see that success hasn’t gone to the head of those involved in the sequel.

The Girl Who Played With Fire is true crime mystery material in its purest form, with characters and twists throughout. Millennium have agreed to take on a new, young and ambitious reporter who is looking to break a very damaging story. Not long after he’s abruptly halted and Lisbeth (the titular Girl) is on the run as Suspect Number One. This is all very familiar ground from every other film in this genre, but it’s still kept fresh by the great acting. While some of the characters may be stereotypical, they are at least believe and enjoyable to watch.

The biggest danger the Millennium series will face is exhaustion, with at least another one Swedish film and three American versions to follow. It won’t be long until the fiesty-feline heroine intoxication falls out of favour and the films are remembered more for their raw values than the hype.

The Girl Who Played With Fire isn’t an action flick. It’s not an overly-gruesome torture-porn expose. Instead it’s a good old fashioned, enjoyable mystery film with a much-too-brief ending.

My rating: 7/10