Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) by Cameron J — 21 Mar 2012

I know it's been a while since I looked into Sweden, but seriously, when did they start letting them have computers, let alone computer hackers? Man, when they started talking about magazine companies, alone, I started looking out for flags to double check. Eh, I think they're fooling us and this isn't Sweden at all, because I didn't hear anyone saying, "Heda-herda". Hey, we Americans may be ignorant, but at least we know how to make better movies, and no, I don't mean that Fincher's 2011 version is better; I mean, it is, but that's not what I'm saying. I mean that our 2009 was slam-bang amazing, as opposed to every other country in the world... I guess, which is why this film didn't get phenomenal reviews. Yeah, so in case you can't tell, I don't have any material for a good opener, probably because I couldn't figure out what these people were talking about... even though I had subtitles. My American ignorance aside, you don't need to speak Heda-herdanese, or whatever they speak in Sweden, to see that this is an undeniably pretty good film, though one that's not without its flaws.

On several occasions, the film falls to the cliches of the amateur. It's not pull lame, cheap tricks, but from a convention in music to those bogus transparent floating images over a montage, this film pulls some cheesy moves, and I know that sounds like a nitpick, but tricks like those dilute tension and leave the film to feel exaggerated in some parts. To make matters worse, those tricks get overused, yet aren't the only repetitive things in this film, because the film will fall into the same tricks and do so back-to-back, particularly the moments of quiet meditation that not only lower steam, due to the overusage, but drive tonal inconsistency in the film, because, at one minute, it's broad and talkative, and then, next thing you know, things get overly subtle to the point of being dull, and that inconsistency throws a blow to the steam that's even harder than the blow delivered by the simple fact that those moments are repetitive and dull. Now, I don't want it sound as though I'm basing my opinion on this film through a product that came out "after" it, because this is a good film, but, well, David Fincher's a genius, so this movie stinks. No, but seriously though, while Fincher's more recent version omitted some stuff that I would have loved to have seen, on the whole, there was more material, perhaps to a fault, seeing as how Steve Zaillian's screenplay's omission of a deal of resting spots and addition of some excess material actually kept the film from being slam-bang amazing. Still, more often than not, the story was tighter and delivered more, and while I'm not going judge this film any differently, I would certainly recommend Fincher's version over this one, as it is much less repetitive and much more rewarding. However, it's not like I'm going to discourage y'all from seeing this film, for although it doesn't fully deliver as well as it should, what high notes it does hit, it hits hard.

As wildly overused as moments without dialogue are, it's not like they knock you out of the film, as you are constantly gripped by the... generic score. No, the score isn't generic, yet it does hit conventional note, only to make up for that with some twists and versatility that transcend the familiarity of the music and tap into their tone, setting whatever emotion is needed for the film with grace. Of course, score composer Jacob Groth isn't the only one worthy of credit for setting tone well in this film, as director Niels Arden Oplev tells the story, not always perfectly, but well enough to really strike at you, particularly when we get to any kind of tension or even emotion. You'd be doing the novel the greatest of injustices if you were to slip up on the brutality, even slightly, and that's something that Oplev does not at all do, and with every toss and turn during a rape or every blow in a brutal piece of violence, you're on the edge of your seat, enthralled and disturbed, yet in an effectively compelling fashion. Don't worry, there's no cat in this version though, so calm you crazy cat lovers... like myself. Still, little adorable kitty or no little adorable kitty, this film grips you, and it's not just Oplev's atmosphere that does it, as the performers also pump this film with a kind of charisma and compelling presence that really draws your attention, and that can especially be said for Noomi Rapace. Lisbeth Salander is a damaged and tortured, yet strong soul whose anguish is matched only by her cleverness, and Rapace nails that presence effortlessly, subtley casting a shroud of mystery over the Salander character, yet still earning your investment by portraying the highs, lows and layers of our strong female lead without predictability and with a thorough aura of charisma and compellingness, thus making for a performance that's well worthy of making Lisbeth Salander, as well as Rapace, herself, the icons that they so deserves to be.

Overall, it's an occasionally gimmicky, sometimes slow and often repetitive thriller that never really pieces itself to the story quality of its source material to begin with, yet what still makes it a rewarding experience is its consistently engaging and sometimes powerfully resonant tone summoned by director Niels Arden Oplev and supplemented by a strong cast, headed by the effortlessly gripping and rightfully iconic Noomi Rapace, whose compelling and haunting lead performance helps in making "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (Or "Men Who Hate Women" for y'all with a stupd taste in titles or "Män som hatar kvinnor" for you people that like it when foreign titles sound much cooler than their translation) a generally compelling thriller.

3/5 - Good.