The film is based on the first novel in the incredibly popular Swedish Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. This isn't the first film adaption of the novels; all three were translated to film in Scandanavia, and released in 2009. I have read the first book and watched all three of the original adaptations. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is hard to classify: I view it as an action movie, a thriller, a murder mystery, and a drama. The plot is hard to define and hard to explain. Mikael Blomkvist, played by Daniel Craig, is a disgraced journalist who is offered retribution for the events that lead to his downfall if he is able to solve a decades-old family mystery. Along the way, he finds that he requires a research assistant. Enter Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth is a sight to behold; tattoos, piercings, crazy black hair that she sometimes fashions into a mohawk. She has intentionally made herself as unapproachable as possible. She is unfriendly, impolite, to the point. She doesn't want to know anyone, she just wants to hide in herself and in her computer hacker world.
The film starts off slow. After the mindblowing animated sequence during the opening credits, it goes into a lull. Because it is a story with a lot of layers, it requires a lot of exposition. There's a lot of talk and not a lot going on. The first half is a little ho-hum at times, but it's worth sticking with it. As the movie starts cracking the surface of Lisbeth, and then when she and Blomqvist meet, it takes off. Craig plays Blomkvist with a subtle bemusement and affection towards Mara's Salander. They have a unique chemistry as the unlikeliest pair of allies.
I know that I am not alone in my belief that Lisbeth Salander is one of the more memorable characters to come out of modern literature. I think fans feel very protective of the character. Rooney Mara, who is best known for playing the girlfriend who dumps Mark Zuckerberg in one of the first scenes of The Social Network, is nothing short of a revelation as Lisbeth Salander. The character of Lisbeth is tough as nails, but she's also incredibly fragile. She is a delicate balance of a character, and it would be difficult as an actor to pull it off. Mara does. Because of her appearance and her antisocial behavior, Lisbeth can seem like an unsympathetic character. Rooney Mara's ability to show the fragility of the character with just a glance or a turn of her mouth is amazing. And dare I say, Oscar worthy. There are a lot of dark places she has to go as an actor in this film. I don't know how an actor could pour themselves into some of the difficult scenes, two of which are brutal and impossible to watch without flinching, and go home at the end of the day unaffected. Her performance is brave, unsettling, and exactly what it should be.
Daniel Craig, who is best known as the most recent James Bond, is perfectly cast as Mikael Blomkvist. He is exactly who I pictured in my head when I read the original novel. The entire cast is excellent, including Christopher Plummer as the man who offers Blomqvist the task of solving the murder of his niece, and Stellan Skaarsgard, as the older brother of the murder victim.
The film is directed by David Fincher, who is the cinematic king of dark filmmaking, (for example, Seven, The Game, and Fight Club). It is dark, brutal, unflinching, and it pulls no punches. The film is also beautifully shot. The cinematography is gorgeous and the musical score, done by Trent Reznor formerly of the band Nine Inch Nails, is stunning without being distracting. This is a well done piece of film. You won't leave the theater feeling uplifted, but you'll leave feeling satisfied that your money and your time was well spent.
