A bit lengthy run time for a thriller, but absorbing
throughout nonetheless, this murder mystery, somewhat loosely based on the dense best - selling novel by the late Stieg Larsson (which in its native Swedish literally translates to «Men Who Hate Women», the
first in his «Millennium» trilogy), is dark, and more
than a little sensationalized (involving perverts, murderers, rapists, Nazis, and literal Biblical interpretations) to be believable, but, like most good thrillers, it's riveting in a way that you won't be able to turn away from it, even during some of the
film's most brutal moments.
Amidst the clunky exposition and embarrassing callbacks to the
first film and disheartening one - liners delivered by Liam Hemsworth — who looks profoundly embarrassed and exhausted
throughout — there may have even been a better movie
than the
first Independence Day.
Whilst at times difficult to watch, Grave of the Fireflies is more
than a
film, it's a masterpiece of human endeavour, and the hand drawn tragedy echoes every cry of anguish that has sounded
throughout the centuries, ever since we
first learnt to kill our own kind.