Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) by Mike P — 04 Oct 2014

When I was in high school, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was one of my favorite books that I had read, I loved the original three Swedish movies, and Lisbeth Salander was, and still is, my favorite character in film and in literature. Despite the fact that the remake would be directed by David Fincher, who was a director that I had a great amount of respect for, especially after coming directly off of The Social Network, I was against the idea of an American remake so soon after the originals had come out. The story had already been successfully adapted to film and nobody would be able to play a better Lisbeth Salander than Noomi Rapace did. Once I finally got to see the film in the theater, I was astounded by the fact that I not only loved this version, but that I found it to be better than both the original Swedish film and the novel.

Just when I thought that there would be no possible way that this story could have been told any better, this movie actively went out of its way to do every miniscule detail about the story better than even the book does. Whereas in the original film, a scene of exposition that would take around 10 minutes to cover, would be covered here in only a four or five line conversation, which gives us all of the essential information that we need in order to follow the story, but trims a lot of the fat and keeps the film moving at a brisk pace.

There's no possible way that I can talk about this movie without talking about Lisbeth Salander. I was not convinced that Rooney Mara, this girl who I had never heard of, would be able to play this incredibly difficult role as well as Noomi Rapace did. I've never been more happy to be wrong about something in my life. Not only was her accent on point and her acting was Oscar-worthy, but the way that Lisbeth is written in this film gives more dimensions to her than we had seen before, which makes her a more sympathetic character. It also makes her relationship with Daniel Craig's Mikael Blomkvist especially important here because she is a very detached and anti-social person who nobody understands. Blomkvist is one of the only people she encounters who doesn't treat her like she's a freak, and allows her to open up more as a person. I am still, to this day, angered by the fact that Mara did not win Best Actress at the Oscars that year.

It may seem odd that, amongst David Fincher's illustrious film career, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, one of his more underappreciated films, is actually my favorite in his filmography. Newcomers who are not familiar with the story might be lost during some portions, seeing as the movie does brush over a lot of minor details, but that won't prevent you from enjoying the story as a whole. As a fan of the source material, this movie satisfied me on every possible level I could have asked for. Fincher's signature kinetic energy and bleak atmosphere fit the story perfectly and Rooney Mara's performance is out of this world. If I could have one movie wish, I would wish for David Fincher, Rooney Mara, and Daniel Craig to get together and finally make The Girl Who Played With Fire.