The same exponential decline in story complexity that occurred between the first and second cinematic installments of Stieg Larsson's posthumously published 'Millennium Trilogy' continues here. Where 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' had taut crisscrossing subplots of boundless internal and external significance, the final act of the trilogy is little more than a tepid courtroom drama with some willy-nilly spectacle thrown in for good measure. Grade: C-.  

The second installment in the film adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson's large-scale crime trilogy 'Millennium' pales in comparison to 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.' The compelling Noomi Rapace returns as the series' bisexual goth-girl computer hacker heroine Lisbeth Salander, but the sequel can't sustain thematic energy and emotional truth. Grade: C.  

The first film adaptation of the late Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson's posthumously published Millennium Trilogy, 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' is an enigmatic mystery thriller fired by the growling intensity of its goth-girl heroine Lisbeth Salander (ferociously played by Noomi Rapace). Grade: B.