I had seen "Men who hate women" without having read the novel, had appreciated it, and was willing to see this second part of the trilogy. As far as context, I can repeat what I had already said in my comment for the first movie, that is my surprise to see a modern Sweden not so clean, nor respectful of human rights as we, as southern Europeans, are used to see, or at least to be given such an image. Indeed, we find a country stained, in this case, by harsh stories of trafficking of young girls from eastern Europe, involving high political representatives, policemen and Russian spies.

As far the thriller story, I could perceive the clearly different direction. Whereas in the first movie, each plot twist was developed, sometimes retold, in order not to leave anything unexplained or unaccomplished, here, it seems that something was lost and never captured again, the story is less a thriller and more a detective story, focused on the character of Lisbeth, still superbly interpreted by Noomi Rapace: she dominates every scene, every moment, but, as a consequence, much of the plot, which involves her but many other aspects and characters, seems to be left to those who have read the book and may understand the links. For example, the same trafficking of women, is not developed, being however the main theme of the story itself, it is given much importance at the beginning, and then left undeveloped throughout it. Also the relationship between Blomkvist and his colleague Erika is not understandable: I believed he was in love with Lisbeth, caring for her, and suddenly I find him in bed with his friend-journalist, without letting the viewer know much about their relation.

The general atmosphere is also less tense and enthralling than in "Men who hate women", sometimes the pace is too slow. As a conclusion, I would say this second part of the trilogy is less convincing than the first, less solidly directed, and probably to be more appreciated by those who have read the novel. It is, however, a quite well made product, well interpreted and still instilling a will to see the third part, and, why not, to turn to the written page to look for the "missing" things.