Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) by Halfwelshman — 20 Jan 2012

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of the finest examples of a thrilling murder-mystery ever committed to film. The storytelling is fluid and engaging, the script tight and the dramatic performances superb.

The film explores the darkest, most depraved aspects of human nature, and astutely questions our commonly held beliefs about mental illness, morality and redemption. It's a real testament to the skills of leads Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace that they manage to bring such complex, layered characters to life on the big screen, and they make a great double-act, smartly playing off each others' performances to add greater depth and believability to their roles.

It's also a mark of a great director in Niels Arden Oplev that he keeps the story focussed, and manages to maintain the momentum of the film throughout its 150 minute run-time. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is simply superb - it's smart, energetic, well-crafted and utterly enthralling.

The American remake is on the horizon, and while I'm intrigued by any project with David Fincher at the helm, I'm also a little dubious, because there's no way a remake can be this good.