Marval Movie

When I first heard that there was going to be an English remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo i thought "ow dear here comes Hollywood to make tame and commercialize an already good existing movie". Then i learned it would be directed by David Fincher who specializes at making dark killer movies so I was won over a little but still I thought it seemed pointless, then I saw the trailer and got a little excited.

The story is about an old rich man (Christopher Plummer) who cant forget the murder of his favourite niece and hires and investigative journalist (Daniel Craig) to solve the mystery. We then meet the off beat specialist investigator Lisbeth (Rooney Mara) a rough, shrood girl who dresses in tight thick leather, piercings and spikes her hair up radically, shes also the best at what she does.

The original Swedish movie by Niels Arden Oplev was a great murder mystery that had good characters, a set-up, plot, etc. it had an offbeat way of telling its story and i liked it (no i have not read the book).

This version starts with one of the most bizarre, surreal opening sequences that I've ever seen in the movies, it has the immigrant song followed by dark surreal imagery of black liquids and wires and an assortment of other bizarre images. Fincher has made some of the best movies of the last decade. Panic Room would make Hitchcock proud, Zodiac is a mystery which is brave enough to not give you an answer which makes it even better and The Social Network made Facebook interesting (Not an easy task).

Fincher brings his love for dark scenery and modern settings to this version of the tale which works well. The original had more of and old house feel to most of the sets and the dirty places looked dirty but they seem so much more dirty in Fincher's because we've seen such clean minimalist buildings just previously. Fincher is the only director that i know that can show snowy scenery and make it look dark, he is by nature a dark director he is at his best when he deals with dark subject matters but he also understands the importance of having a great screenplay that he can sink his teeth into.

Since i have seen the Swedish version it is nearly impossible for me to not compare the two, but i also think that its more about preference of the different aspects between the two rather than simply saying which one is better than the other.

Both directors are great at handling the subject material and are strangely similar in a majority of the scenes that they tackle in the movies but Fincher is in his element here so the atmosphere seems just a little more pitch-perfect than the other. Lisbeth is played by Noomi Rapace in the Swedish version and she seems more comfortable in the thick leather attire and extreme hair cuts than Rooney Mara does, even though she does a even better job than i was expecting but through most of it it seemed she didn't really choose to be wearing those clothes and was uncomfortably placed in them. Mikael Blomkvist is played by Michael Nyqvist in the Swedish version he brings an old-fashioned shaggy charm that fits with the direction of the movie, I wasn't looking forward too Daniel Craig as Mikael, ever since he gave a wooden underwhelming James Bond i have been very uninterested in his career but he was in the movie so i had to watch him and too my surprise he gives a stellar performance with making Mikael nerdy (but only just) along with a few welcomed characteristics that make this performance more than enjoyable.

Even though there are obvious similarities between the two films the American one stands as its own film. Fincher takes his own liberty's with the source material and has his own interpretation of how to portray these characters.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a modern who done it that I would recommend to any mature intelligent person, and whichever version you decide to watch I can guarantee an intense, thrilling experience that does not treat its audience like idiots.

Rating 3 1/2 Stars out of 4