SYNOPSIS:  A year after "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," Millennium magazine has a new reporter -- Dag Svensson (Hans Christian Thulin) and his girlfriend are doing reports on sex trafficking and prostitution, buut then Mikael (Nyqvist) finds both of them dead in their apartment, and Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson) -- the cruel "guardian" who raped Lisbeth -- has been brutally shot in the head.   Since Lisbeth (Rapace) just returned to Stockholm (and threatened to shoot Bjurman), she becomes the No. 1 suspect in all three murders, even though, she had no motive for two of them.

Of course, Mikael doesn't believe that she did it -- especially since a hostile blond giant is going around beating up anyone (a trainer, a casual girlfriend) who might know Lisbeth's whereabouts. As Lisbeth goes on her own dark mission, she tells Mikael that he should look for someone named Zala. When Mikael starts hunting for information on this mystery man, he also learns more about Lisbeth's dark past (from imdb.com)

ANALYSIS:    The second film in the Millennium trilogy (based on the book of the same name) takes us into the past of Lisbeth.  She was a mystery in the first film only to see the layers peeled back on her and discover how she ended up like she is now.  THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is a movie where Mikael and Lisbeth don't share many scenes together.  They are apart and yet they are following the same threads that intertwine with each other.   The film has more of a thriller pace than the first film.   Lisbeth set about actions that would have consequences on her whole life while Mikael wants to help her.  He is fond of her and wants her to be safe.   He knows she didn't kill his reporters and her sadistic guardian.  He fights to clear her name while it falls on the deaf ears of the police.

Noomi Rapace still sizzles as Lisbeth Salander.  She can say so much with Salander's eyes and movements.   I can't wait to see what Rapace does in the Sherlock Holmes sequel.  She owns Lisbeth and I don't know if the actress playing Lisbeth in the English language version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO can match what Noomi Rapace has done with Lisbeth.  

The original Swedish language track is much better than the English dubbed track which is just passable.