When we first see Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) in "The Girl Who Played With Fire," she’s on the Caribbean island where we left her at the end of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." It’s 18 months later, and after hiding out there but apparently getting no sun—she’s still the same pale, skinny girl we remember—she gets news that calls her back to Stockholm, Sweden. Once there, director Daniel Alfredson and writer Jonas Frykberg, working from the hugely popular Millennium trilogy novel by Stieg Larsson, plunge her and her quasi partner, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), into another exciting, well-paced mystery.

Only this time, instead of having them work directly together, the two main protagonists find the pieces of the puzzle through their own methods. This puts a damper on the blossoming friendship and sexual tension between the two, but the movie did not feel like anything was missing. There’s enough going on with the story, and the plot developments come quick enough that there isn’t time for much of anything else except to keep moving on to the next thing. There isn’t a single dull or wasted moment in the film, and it’s certainly a tighter film than Tattoo, not only in terms of the story but also in terms of running time (129 versus "Tattoo’s" 152 minutes).

The story itself takes willingly from classic Hitchcock. One of the Master of Suspense’s favorite themes was the wrongly accused man, on the run and trying to clear his name (films such as "The 39 Steps," "North By Northwest," "Frenzy"). Here we have the modern update, where Lisbeth is accused of three murders, and she must stay in hiding and find the guilty party in order to clear her own name. All of this leads to an enigmatic character named Zala, who’s allegedly heading a sex trafficking operation that Mikeal, not coincidentally, is investigating. Twists abound that tie nicely to the first film and provide insight into Lisbeth’s dark and troubled past.

Along the way there are the usual elements we expect, such as fights, car chases, and shootouts, but to Alfredson’s credit, none of it is done in the usual way. The action sequences aren’t too polished or overly choreographed, which is refreshing, particularly in the summer season where the real stars are often the stunt choreographers and the visual effects artists. There’s not too much artifice here and the physical altercations have a natural feel to them, as if real people—rather than just movie characters--were caught in those situations, and we are watching a real struggle happen rather than stunts and action choreography.

The third film in the trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest," opens in the U.S. October 15. Hopefully it will answer more questions about Lisbeth’s past, not just in terms of where she’s been, but also how she became to be the person she is today. Consider: Someone had to teach her how to hack computers, hide from government agencies, spy on people, interrogate suspects with torture traps that would make Marquis De Sade smile, and defend herself against multiple opponents in physical confrontations. However, the last one may just be straightforward street smarts—pepper spray and tasers (particularly when used on someone’s groin) will take almost anyone down. Not that Lisbeth even needs that much help.