The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) Review

"You will be investigating thieves, misers, bullies.  The most detestable collection of people that you will ever meet...my family."
-Henrik Vanger



Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) loses a libel case against him wiping out his life savings and forcing him to resign his job.  Mikael is approached by the extremely wealthy Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) who promises him a shot at revenge against the man who sued him.  In exchange Mikael investigates the disappearance and possible murder of Henrik's niece Harriet (Joely Richardson), which occurred 40 years earlier.  Mikael teams up with private investigator Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to look into the case, but what they discover is much darker and more horrible than they can imagine.


What Works:

I can't help but compare this film to the original Swedish version.  In some ways the original is superior.  In other ways this one is.  To start with, both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are excellent.  Their bond is different from the original movie and Lisbeth seems to care more about Mikael in this version, which I liked a lot.  Mara is especially amazing in her role and does justice to this excellent character.

I love how bleak this movie is.  The tone is fantastic and blends with the snowy landscape incredibly well.  David Fincher is one of my favorite directors and his style lends itself well to the story and he does a fantastic job.

I think the final confrontation with the killer is much better handled in this version than the original.  The tension in the basement of the killer's house is great and the subsequent car chase is much more exciting than the original version.

Finally, the revelation regarding Harriet is far superior to the original.  The Australia revelation was the weakest aspect of the original film, so I liked the unexpected change in this one.  It turns out we actually met Harriet earlier in the movie and she was using a different identity.  I didn't see that twist coming and I really enjoyed it.


What Sucks:

My only complaint is the second act investigation scenes are better handled in the original film.  They throw a ton of information at us very quickly and it's hard to fall sometimes.  The original did a better job laying out everything we needed to know.


Verdict:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is another solid film from David Fincher.  The acting is great all around, especially from the lead characters and I would call it equal to the original film.  It does some things better, some worse, but enough is different to make this story worth remaking and it absolutely has got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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