All the usual suspects are back for the third (and final?) installment of this Stieg Larsson mystery/thriller series. In the opening scenes, this one looks like it’s going to successfully connect all the dots, starting with the personal history of our tattooed heroine (sadistic dad, psycho half-brother); the conspiracy to frame her; and the shadow-government that’s working to suppress the truth from the press & from her trial. But even at two & a half hours, the story lines collapse from lack of information and a lot of smart characters have to make stupid decisions to keep everything moving forward. Important documents are left out so they can be stolen; Cell phones are ‘conveniently’ turned off to miss emergency calls; A dark, lonely building is investigated by an unarmed party of one when something fishy is heard going on inside. And when we finally glean a few details on that big conspiracy we've been waiting to hear about . . . well, let's just say that Swedes are easily shocked. Then, when Ms. Tattoo finally dons her full Goth regalia, and we're cued to stand and cheer, it feels like we're playing by rote. In the States, each entry dropped 30% at the box-office from its predecessor. Now we’re gearing up for a lux American remake of the trilogy. As Sam Goldwyn once remarked, ‘Include me out.’
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