Known As:
A tetovált lány

StoryLine:
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a young computer hacker.

Cast & Director:
Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgård, David Fincher

Genres: Drama, Thriller

Quotes: Henrik Vanger:Soon you'll know us all too well, with my apologies.

Taglines: What is hidden in snow, comes forth in the thaw.

Exceptional; improves upon an already fantastic film

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a rather large fan following andfor good reason. The 2009 Swedish film is incredibly solid andwell-acted with just the right amount of wrong. The two sequels thatfollowed had their own uphill battles (switching directors, lowerbudget, etc) and weren't necessarily bad, but just failed to capturethat raw emotional tenacity the original film offered. When news of aremake began making the usual rounds, there was a fairly large uproaramongst the internet community (isn't there always), especially whenit was announced Noomi Rapace wouldn't be returning as LisbethSalander. Most American remakes aren't directed by David Fincher thoughand while it isn't vastly different in comparison to its Swedishcounterpart, Fincher has at least improved upon what was already afantastic piece of cinema.The opening of the film was a bit unexpected. "The Immigrant Song"cover by Trent Reznor and Karen O plays over these really fluid visualsthat are a bit hard to describe. Imagine the T-1000 from Terminator 2made of motor oil or tar instead of metal and you have a pretty goodidea of what to expect. It was just very different from other filmcredits from the rest of the year while also being very sleek, verystylish, and very David Fincher.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is extremely dialogue driven, so beprepared for a lot of talking. It feels very similar to Zodiac in thatsense yet more captivating. Even though I had seen the original filmand knew most of the major plot points, I still found myself gettingsucked into the story. Even if you hate this version of the film andyour loyalty remains firmly with the Swedish film, you can probably atleast agree that Fincher's version is visually the better of the two.The cinematography is just brilliant. You've gotten teases in thetrailers, but the coldest winter in 20 years for Sweden looks so bloodyfantastic on screen; the amazing scenery, those long drives through thesnow, feeling like you're on the back of Lisbeth's motorcycle as sheroars through a tunnel, and the inner shot of a plastic bag among manyother things. The film is just a joy to look at from beginning to end.The score is also just as brilliant as the one for The Social Network,if not slightly better. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross seem to exploreterritory they didn't get to explore on The Social Network score. Thisone seems to feature more out of tune instruments, which is aninteresting touch. The score hints at rising tension throughout thefilm always making you feel like there's always something else to thestory lurking around the corner waiting for the right moment to strike.It's haunting, unnerving, and just spectacular overall.Noomi Rapace was an exceptional Lisbeth Salander and with that said sois Rooney Mara. Just the amount of devotion she put into the role withthe piercings being genuine, bleaching her eyebrows, cutting her hair,learning how to ride a motorcycle, using a very convincing Swedishaccent, coming off as being just as messed up as her appearance letson, and being completely nude is an incredible accomplishment. It's notout of the question to believe that a role this physical could get hernominated for best actress at the Academy Awards. The entire cast justseems like they fit their roles a bit better than they did in theSwedish film. This is one of the only performances of Daniel Craig's Ican actually say I enjoyed while Stellan Skarsgård is just wonderfullydemented. Then there's Yorick van Wageningen that's just downrightdespicable as Nils Bjurman. It doesn't seem like it's something assimple as "oh, you're showing favoritism towards a remake because it'sin English now." That isn't the case at all. Fincher's attention todetail to the source material is practically Kubrick-like. It shows inevery frame of the film.Fincher's version also seems to feature a lot more of Mikael Blomkvistand Lisbeth Salander being together. They have more sex and they'refeatured together more on-screen in comparison to the Swedish version.It was a nice addition that made the slightly altered ending a lot moreimpactful. The whistling doors in Martin's house were also amazing. Ican't recall if that was in the Swedish version or not, but it broughta smile to my face with how something so small meant so much.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is obviously not going to be foreverybody. It relies on extremely long discussions to drive most of thetwo and a half hour duration of the film. In between though, it becomesdifficult to watch mostly with how Nils Bjurman handles giving Lisbethmore money and her response. Lisbeth's response will more than likelyhave you tiptoeing out of the theater as delicately as possible sinceyou'll still be feeling it. With a phenomenal cast, incredibly richcinematography, a brilliant score, and Rooney Mara's best performanceto date, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is not only an improvementover the original but easily one of the best films of the year.