It's only our investment in these fascinating characters and in wholly unraveling the mystery of Lisbeth Salander's awful past that keep it compelling. full review

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is too akin to the tidying up of a television-series finale - albeit a very classy franchise with fine characters and able performances. full review

If you haven't seen the first two films, do so and then see this one. If you have seen them, chances are you're already in the ticket line. Hornet's Nest has such a sweet sting. full review

Much of the problem can be traced to the villains of the piece: The snakes in the establishment are a bunch of really old white guys. Now this may be true to life, but it's hell on drama. full review

One of the knottiest, talkiest tangles of celluloid to roll into theaters this year. full review

Feels like the concluding chapter it is, with neatly tied loose ends and closing remarks, though it unfolds as something of a secular passion play. full review

An overgenerous helping of recapitulation, a long procedural that's more about Lisbeth's persecutors and protectors than about her. full review

Expunging the clichés, coincidences, flat dialogue and dull exposition will present a challenge for director David Fincher as he begins to remake the films in Hollywood. full review

The final, deeply satisfying conclusion to the trilogy of Swedish thrillers based on Stieg Larsson's bestselling novels. full review

An extremely satisfying ending to the story of Lisbeth Salander, the tough Swedish cyber punk that actress Noomi Rapace has turned into an iconic New Age heroine. full review

It always is a challenge to convert a dense novel to the screen, but Hornet's Nest starts so slowly that it has a lot to overcome when it finally reveals some surprises in the last third of the film. full review

Hornet's Nest is talky but indisputably terrific, and it ends in a dazzling display of courtroom fireworks. Rapace is hot stuff in any language. Oscar, take heed. full review

The film huffs and wheezes under the strain of its narrative baggage. full review

Anyone who has read Larsson's novels will be sympathetic to filmmakers trying to pare down and distill these books. full review

A rousing, grueling, almost operatically scaled finale to the series. full review

As superb as the Swedish actress Noomi Rapace has been up to this point, there's nothing she can do to bring craft or excitement to the act of texting. full review

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest comes close to self-parody at times ... [but] the final chapter has its satisfying turns. full review

Since the heroine spends half her screen time recovering from brain surgery, Rapace has less to do than in the first two movies, but she's striking in full punk regalia during a tense courtroom sequence. full review

Unlike The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which can stand on its own, the other two films need to be seen as a set. Neither is complete without the other. full review

It's a rather wobbly blend of courtroom drama and loose ends tied, albeit rather leisurely. full review