The Millennium Movies Ranked
I have yet to read Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s crime novel trilogy Millennium, nor the follow-ups to it by other authors. More widely known by association with just the first book’s name, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2005), Larsson’s trilogy is remarkable beyond the actual stories contained within its pages, as it was released entirely posthumously. Catching an international audience and spreading like wildfire, the “Dragon Tattoo” books and subsequent movies filtered all the way into my very dim pop culture consciousness as a tween. Beginning with Swedish versions of each of Larsson’s novels, five total films (the other two American) have adapted his (and a successive author’s) stories in the over nine years between 2009 and 2018. While I’m now attempting to remedy my lack of experience with the books, I was introduced to Larsson’s morbid yet absolutely thrilling world through recent viewings of the movies with my fiancée, who has read the trilogy.
#5 — THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB (2018)
D: Fede Álvarez
As of now the last of the Millennium movies, or Dragon Tattoo series as it is officially branded for the American films, THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB came after the biggest gap between any of the adaptations at nearly seven years after its predecessor, the American remake of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB is the result of a number of scrapped Hollywood sequels, both involved and not with David Fincher, Daniel Craig, and Rooney Mara of the previous movie. While it is technically a sequel, recasting Lisbeth Salander with Claire Foy and Sverrir Gudnason as Mikael Blomkvist, it elides Larsson’s original successive books to adapt the first by another author, David Lagercrantz. Director Fede Álvarez, who has a filmography so far equally defined by jumping into existing franchises (EVIL DEAD [2013], ALIEN: ROMULUS [2024]) as crafting original works, takes over from Fincher. Even more than Fincher’s film, THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB “Hollywood-izes” the tone of the Swedish movies and sensationalizes the much slighter action moments of them. Perhaps that’s a result of the novel’s evolution, but in its own right, the movie feels totally out of step with what I love about the Millennium films. Foy is certainly the worst to portray Lisbeth, although she’s not exactly embarrassing in the role; she still has an agency that is able to support the intensified Lisbeth focus of this story. On the other hand, the look of the movie is unfortunately bland in the modern digital way. THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER WEB is entertaining in moments and it has a few intriguing images, but its “amping up” of the tone of the original movies, even its Hollywood predecessor, feels cheap.
#4 — THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST (2009)
D: Daniel Alfredson
The final Swedish film in the series, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST feels a bit like a “wrap-up” story instead of a naturally thrilling conclusion. That’s certainly a relative statement; it’s not like the movie is without intriguing moments and the darkness that defines its predecessors. But the particular approach to the courtroom element of Lisbeth’s story and the continuance of revelations made in the previous movie make the film lack a central mystery and it becomes more about how to draw out the remaining villains. Lisbeth is generally isolated and Noomi Rapace, who far and away embodies the character best out of the three actors to play her, doesn’t have as much to do. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST’s look is improved over THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, but its story doesn’t move forward, or end I suppose, with the same drive.
#3 — THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (2009)
D: Daniel Alfredson
The first Millennium sequel is the epitome of “this time, it’s personal.” As someone who hasn’t read the books, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED FIRE’s shift in focus to Lisbeth’s full background and the problems that emerge in the present for her was surprising. Mostly, it’s a rewarding shift. The film doesn’t quite offer the same formula as THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, which is as commendable as it is slightly disappointing, especially since Mikael and Lisbeth don’t actually interact until a brief moment in the final scene. This is also where director Daniel Alfredson took over the series, and initially, it seemed to make a negative visual impact. There are a number of shots in THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE that look so…TV, for lack of a better and not-so-negative term. But then, the three Swedish films (which were all impressively released in the same calendar year) were eventually packaged for TV for the miniseries MILLENNIUM (2010), which added deleted scenes to make the whole trilogy nearly two hours longer. I know some swear the miniseries is the optimal way to experience the movies and perhaps I’ll revisit them in that form in the near future. In the meantime, though, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE doesn’t always look so cheap, even as it works with a different color grade in its Stockholm setting, Rapace is still captivating as Lisbeth, and its mysteries still carry implications of commentary on Sweden’s darkest acts.
#2 — THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011)
D: David Fincher
Fincher’s GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Hollywood remake has its share of fans who proclaim it better than the Swedish original. Obviously, I don’t agree, but it still is a remarkably engaging thriller. I suppose they both benefit from superb source material. The visual identity of Fincher’s version owes so much to the first adaptation to the point of feeling a bit redundant. Perhaps it’s just that they both adhere pretty closely to Larsson’s novel, but the same goes for its treatment of the story. But the difference is in the details. I’m not often one to complain about Hollywood as a monolithic entity ruining the approaches of foreign source material (although individuals and studios certainly do), but there are different degrees of the “Americanizing” process. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO (2011) isn’t like THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB in this way, but it loses some of the dry charm of its characters and understated yet menacing violence of its tone. Thankfully, Craig doesn’t play Mikael like some conquering hero, still retaining the general mien of the sadsack everyman. And Mara is competent in playing the detached yet extremely capable Lisbeth. Ultimately, though, there’s something missing in Fincher’s finely crafted THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, an element of Nordic frankness perhaps.
#1 — THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2009)
D: Niels Arden Oplev
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO’s central mystery, surrounding the disappearance of a girl from a wealthy family in the 1960s, is loaded with compelling twists and deeper meaning. Brought in to resume the case for patriarch Henrik Vanger in the early 2000s, crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and ultimately brilliant hacker Lisbeth Salander, discover a whole mess of dark secrets, including Nazism, incest, rape, and serial murders. It’s the kind of stuff the Swedes (and their surrounding countries) dive real deep into, with a certain kind of grim tone that goes beyond even American fascination with crime stories (at least in “mainstream” avenues like television). But THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is so finely tuned so as to not become sensationalist and trite. Its central performances have a lot to do with that. Michael Nyqvist as Mikael isn’t quite pathetic, but his obviously depressed manner fits into the grand tradition of “detective” characters who are far from superhuman. As mentioned, Rapace is the ultimate Lisbeth, imbuing the character with a detachment that is revealed to be part of a deep psychological protection. Niels Arden Oplev’s adaptation is also the most visually rich of all the movies and certainly the most cinematic of the Swedish installments, using a fine grain and oppressively gray tone (until it doesn’t to accentuate a different kind of darkness in the harsh sunlight). THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO is a superior crime thriller and clearly the best adaptation of the Millennium book series, with dry wit and understated development of its central sympathetic characters, in between its most disturbing moments, grounding the story in something believable and sustainable.
