By Jason Haskins
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in the Millenium trilogy published posthumously by Stieg Larsson (his wife actually published ‘em). The trilogy continues with The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest—all growing to be international best sellers and spawning Swedish movies. This is David Fincher’s remake of the first film and book, of course, with his own take on the source material, which I’ve heard is different from both. (Editor's note- There are slight changes from the source material, but should be quite familiar to those with a previous telling of the story.)
Daniel Craig plays journalist Mikael Blomkvist, a discredited journalist who gets enlisted by a rich man Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to catalog his family’s history and perhaps solve the mystery of his niece’s disappearance from fifty years prior. He’s aided by the help of a dangerous computer hacker extraordinaire named Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) who’s an expert investigator and a strong ally to help in his search for the truth—something that the Vanger family might not be so happy about…everyone’s a suspect. Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright, and Joely Richardson also star.
David Fincher brings this air of mystery and drama to the screen in a way we’ve grown familiar with over the years. This is the same guy that brought us the punches and pulls of Fight Club and most recently the terrifying cutthroat drama of The Social Network. He seems comfortable in this territory as he injects his own insane attention to details in every shot as well as amplifying the violence, which I’m sure will turn away a lot of viewers. There’s a rape scene in the film that’s quite brutal and had members of my audience walking out briefly. There’s other forms of violence as well, so if you’re squeamish you might have some things to worry about. However, it’s all done with an important purpose.
I actually really enjoyed this film. It’s one of those movies that has stuck with me. The script was really well done and definitely delivers on the promise from the trailer of being the ‘feel bad movie of Christmas’. This is not for the faint of heart and has some heavy stuff in it. Rooney Mara did a fabulous job here as Salander giving one of the most exciting performances of the year. She’s unrecognizable as the girl Mark Zuckerberg wrongs in the beginning of Fincher’s The Social Network. Daniel Craig also doesn’t disappoint giving a really strong and complicated role a good design.
The only thing I didn’t think jived well with the film was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ music. Don’t get me wrong—their work on The Social Network soundtrack was phenomenal, but here it doesn’t fit what’s happening onscreen. Whereas their prior effort helped the storytelling and defined the images, here it seems like the music is working in the opposite direction and slows down the process. I’ll still buy the soundtrack because the work was well done and beautiful as you’d expect, but didn’t go well with the grand allure onscreen. The run time is also pretty heavy at almost three hours so expect big commitment here—however, one that doesn’t quite feel as long as it is because of how intriguing the plot is.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo isn’t one of my favorite films of the year, but it was really enjoyable and dark—something I’ve grown to expect from Fincher over the years. He brought an edgy flair to the already murky story. The snowy, sterile setting is creepy and foreboding along with the events that happen there and being a year that lacked a good whodunit story, this film delivers. Sure, it’s not for everyone and it will surely be too much for some audiences, but for those looking for powerful performances and a good mystery, this one’s for you.
4.5 out of 5 stars
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Sneak Peek Notes by Paco McCullough
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