The Girl Who Played With Fire

So, I held off on reviewing this movie for a while simply because of the fact that this film is really just set up for the third and final film.  More on that later.  Warning: This review is only for those who have seen film one.  If not, this contains spoilers, you have been warned.
  The Girl Who Played With Fire reunites Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander and Michael Nyqvist as Mickael Blomkvist.  This film is set a year after Dragon Tattoo and we find that Millenium is still running as a magazine and that Lisbeth is settled back at work.  They have not spoken since the tragic events of the first film. 
  Micke is investigating a sex-trafficking ring with his coworkers.  The crew of Millenium, who were barely featured in the first film, have prominent parts in this.  Two of his coworkers are murdered and the blame is placed on Lisbeth.  Meanwhile, Lisbeth's past is coming back to haunt her as we discover that somone from her past is out to destroy her. 
  There is a  psychotic serial killer (Micke Speitz) trying to kill Lisbeth.  Who this seemingly indestructible character is is part of the mystery this time, so I will not say anymore. 
  Lisbeth goes on the run to figure out who did this to her and Micke starts trying to track her down so he can help her and prove her innocence.  They spend most of the movie apart which does not help this script.  The first movie worked better as the chemistry between the two of them is what made the film so powerful, that is lacking here.  They won't be on screen together again till the end. 
  I really can't say much about this film as it really is just a huge buildup for the last film.  The script sort of plods along and isn't very interesting till the last 10 minutes.  It's too little too late which is a shame as I loved the Dragon Tattoo and added it to my DVD collection. 
  I didn't really like the Millenium crew, they seemed very one dimensional and not a whole lot of time is spend on developing them, so how can I care about them?  The first film painted Lisbeth and Micke so well, that I am very disappointed that we don't get the same treatment with the new characters this time around. Also, the bad guys in this one are despicable, but very little is shown or explained of the sex trade, so we don't really know what's going on. 
  This is still a good thriller, but far short of great.  It's your traditional second film, and that's too bad.
  For those of you concerned with content, be warned, this is as graphic as the first one.  The language is not too bad, but there is a completely unnecessary sex scene that went on and on and on (what is wrong with these people?) and the violence is shocking and unflinching.  Still, if you liked the first, you should check out number two. 
  As much as I want to love this, I can only give Girl Who Played With Fire 2 1/2 out of 4.