'Fire' is the real reason to visit a theater this summer

'The Girl Who Played with Fire" film has its U.S. release tomorrow. I'm dying to see it.

It's the second installment in Swedish author Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy. Larsson died in 2004 before the books were published. The books have been translated into English and dominated bestseller lists. Wildly popular, the three books owned the third, fourth and fifth spots on USA Today's Best Sellers list last week. The last book, "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," was only made available in the U.S. about a month ago, and it topped the hardcover best-seller list last week. The series inspired a trilogy of Swedish films, which are being made available in the U.S. with subtitles. And, there is going to be an American remake of the movies (sigh...) set to be released starting in 2012.

The series as a whole rocks. It follows the dual leads and stories of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and excessively private, computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.

Throughout the three books - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played with Fire," and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" - Mikael and Lisbeth weave in and out of each other's lives and you quickly learn that diminutive Lisbeth is the real star of the show. Despite her small frame, Lisbeth is described as tough as nails and defiant. Tattooed, pierced, and antisocial, Lisbeth is constantly awesomely surprising.

The three books - categorized crime thrillers- are incredibly detailed and suspenseful. The stories are complex, and at times very graphic and violent. But, because the stories consist of so many details and descriptions, they made for a ridiculously quick and addicting read. My copies of the book totaled more than 1900 pages, but I sped through the books in a total of just four days.

I was a little hesitant to watch the movies because I loved the books so much, but now I'm committed to seeing the movie tomorrow and the third movie, set to be in U.S. theaters this fall.

The movies are also long and in Swedish with subtitles, but the first one, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," moved pretty quickly. Lisbeth and a couple other characters weren't as I pictured, but as a whole it was great.

The greatest loss in the first movie, which is available on DVD Tuesday, was the sheer amount of plot that had to be left out. But, I expected it. After all, even its two and a half hours, couldn't squish in the 600+ pages of material. Unfortunately for me, it was one of the more graphic scenes I could have done without seeing (consider this your warning). Just thinking about the series gets me pumped for the second movie. Because the third story picked up on a crazy sequence of events ending the second, I'm already crossing my fingers for an earlier release date for the third.

And, praying the American remake doesn't ruin the awesomeness that is the Millennium trilogy.

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" is scheduled to come to the The Terrace on James Island on July 16.