Runtime: 2.5 Hours
Rated R
So when the teaser trailer came out for this film featuring Karen O and Trent Rezner's take on The Immigrant Song, I thought wow this movie looks great! In fact it was this teaser trailer that inspired me to actually read Stieg Larson's entire Girl with The Dragon Tattoo Trilogy (If you haven't seen the teaser, check it out at the bottom of the review and . All I have to say is that the teaser did it's job and I didn't waste my time reading all three books and committing to this 2.5 hour movie.
For those of you that are not familiar with the mythos that is the Girl with The Dragon Tattoo series, the 1st novel, which is the basis of David Fincher's film, centers on a journalist named Mikael Blomkvist who works for a Swedish magazine by the name of Millennium. After being sued by a wealthy industrialist for libel, Mikael is enlisted by another rich Swedish industrialist named Henrik Vanger to investigate the 30-year-old murder of his niece Harriet Vanger. Through the novel we are also introduced to the infamous character known as Lisbeth Salander (or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). She is a computer-hacking, semi-psychotic woman who assists Mikael in his quest to ascertain the true identity of the murderer. Other than the great murder mystery, it's her character development and relationship with Mikael that is intriguing to watch as the film/novel progresses.
David Fincher's take on the film doesn't disappoint. He sets up the tone of the film quickly, again using the Immigrant Song, to create an opening montage similar to Seven; using this montage, Fincher draws the viewer into the crazed dystopia of Lisbeth and Mikael's life at the beginning of the film. Throughout the movie, you can see Fincher's brand through his dark, non-saturated imagery and investigative-style cinematography that is very reminiscent of one of his earlier works, Seven. To be honest, it was like Fincher was in my mind when I was reading the books. He captured the buildings, especially Henrik Vanger's Hedestad home and the Millennium offices to a T. In fact the Millennium office was so similar to how I had pictured it in the novel, that I had to do a double take as I was watching it. He also captures entire scenes and events almost identical to how it occurs in the novel. There is one key difference that occurs towards the end of the movie, but I won't reveal that here...you'll have to watch it to find out! Of course, as in almost every Fincher movie, there are a couple of scenes that are pretty intense and not for the feint of heart (I'm talking about rape here people!). Yes there is one rape scene that is a little intense, but this intense scene only makes the reprisal much more enjoyable.
Since I'm listening to it as I'm writing this review, I have to comment on the soundtrack to this film. It was fantastic! If you liked The Social Network soundtrack, then you will absolutely enjoy the sophomore effort of Trent Rezner/Atticus Ross with David Fincher. The soundtrack adds a sense of urgency to the suspenseful moments in the movie that really put the viewer on the edge of their seat and make them can't wait 'till the next scene of the film. It also adds to the mood of the film and really meshes with the source material that Fincher is pulling from.
Now to the acting - Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara steal the show in this movie! Daniel Craig plays the perfect Mikael Blomkvist, which is to say that he is like Humphrey Bogart shaken with a little James Bond. A man who is driven solely to get to the bottom of a case and will stop at nothing to get there. It's hard not to like Daniel Craig as an actor and even if you don't really like him, you will be forced to in this movie. Rooney Mara, what can I say...other than the fact that she was the best part of the movie. She played Lisbeth Salander absolutely perfectly: the anti-social personality, her rapid-fire dialogue, and of course the awkward mousiness with a hint of "I will kick your assitude." In the words of Jules (of Pulp Fiction fame), she was one bad ass motherfucker. Lisbeth in the movie is always going a mile-a-minute and can remember even the slightest detail just by looking at it briefly. All in all, she was fantastic and if you're not intrigued by the plot, then you should definitely check out the movie just to see her performance.
In conclusion, this movie was by far one of the best movies that I've seen this year (for sure top 5...but more on this when I post my top films of 2011 next week) and I highly recommend this especially if you enjoyed the books.
4.5/5 Lightsabers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVLvMg62RPA
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