Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) by Brett H — 29 Jun 2015

David Fincher's dark and stylistic adaptation of the best-selling novel is a memorable experience to sit through due to the many disturbing scenarios and amazing score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; but the story is missing that WOW factor as it essentially boils down to a murder mystery in the end.

Rooney Mara is completely transformed into Lisbeth Salander and her performance is easily the stand-out, Daniel Craig providing ample support as the journalist who hires her to assist him. The real star of the film is David Fincher though, who's attention to detail, meticulous direction, and sense of pace for the nearly 3-hour film is further proof that he is one of the best filmmakers of this generation.

Having never seen the foreign version, I have no comparison of who did it better, but I'm willing to bet Fincher has the upper hand. The plot is very interesting: the matriarch of a family with a checkered past suspects that one of his relatives is responsible for the disappearance of his grandniece, Harriet and it becomes a masterfully told who-done-it? The story is filled to the brim with damaged characters and dark subject matter (including a horridly disgusting rape scene that really pushes the R-rating to its limits) and many should take heed and do a little background check before sitting through this one! It's only downfall is that the resolution isn't as surprising as the film thinks it is and you can almost guess who the villain is by casting alone; leaving very little surprises at the end.