04/17/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

Fincher is an Amazing Director.. Mara shines!!

David Fincher is brilliant. I thought he had maxed his potential with Fight Club and Seven, but he came & did it again. Having not seen the Swedish film or read the novel, this was a completely new story for me. & I was blown away! Daniel Craig gives a solid performance as Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist tasked with solving a 40 year old murder. The supporting cast is excellent as well, in particular Christopher Plummer & Stellan Skarsgard. But the real star is Rooney Mara, as Lisbeth Salander, an emotionally damaged and unstable woman bordering on insanity. In every scene, she owns the character. She's fierce, gothically sexy, and unbelievably smart and unique. David Fincher is known for his dark, edgy style & it shows in this film. The cinematography is fine as is the musical s...

Rating of
3.5/4 

02/09/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) review

Much like the original Swedish film, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is the co-owner of "Millennium" magazine and Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) a researcher for Milton Security and a computer hacker. Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) assigns Mikael to probe his niece’s murder, Harriet, 40 years ago. Vanger Industries CEO Martin Vanger (Stellan Skarsgård), decide to invest in Millennium magazine. Noomi Rapace was more effective than Mara in line with their wonderful character. There are times you cannot comprehend the words coming from Rooney Mara. This version had a bitter ending though the soundtrack and cinematography were effective. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo had some plot confusion, overall it’s a good drama thriller that was somewhat similar to the original, which real...

Rating of
3/4 

02/04/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

Compelling mystery thriller!

With a tone-setting opening credits sequence to a darkly atmospheric score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an unrelenting and intense thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. A mysterious modern whodunit; as the story slowly unravels it becomes more and more gruesome and mysterious; grabs you and doesn't let go for the next hour and a half.

I did not read the book (the trilogy is already in my library on my list of books to read next) nor seen the original. That being said I thought the script was brilliant, location and shooting was beautiful and the cast was absolutely incredible.

Daniel Craig portrays journalist Mikael Blomquist who having been disgraced in court over a libelous story. He finds himself engaged to investigate, under the guise o...

Rating of
3.5/4 

01/08/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

American Version a Success

Being the third iteration of this story (first book, then Swedish movie, and now U.S. movie), I was expecting much of the story and characters to be lost and made too much like other recent movies that fall short. This one did not disappoint. Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig fills the roles quite nicely. How they chose Rooney Mara for the part is beyond me (same chick as Mark Zuckenberg's girlfriend in the beginning of The Social Network), you'd never think it, but she does an excellent job of playing Lisbeth. The movie starts out with opening credits that reminded me of a James Bond movie, then the first scene has Daniel Craig in it. Coincidence? After that the movie takes a long time to build, with two separate stories moving along and eventually merging paths. Give it time, the movi...

Rating of
3.5/4 

01/06/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

Decent adaptation

As a fan of the Stieg Larsson series, I was pretty excited to see this film. I walked away somewhat satisfied. The good is that Fincher gets quite a few things right - the cast is strong, particularly Daniel Craig as Blomkvist. Rooney Mara is good too as Salander, though her performance was pretty much what I expected so I wasn't exactly blown away. He also gets the tone of the book right and for the most part, keeps the story intact.

The bad is that I just wasn't as into the film as I was the book. I guess it could be because I knew what was going to happen, but I still wanted to see it play out in front of me. The book was something I couldn't put down and my excitement built as the pair discovered the answers to the mystery. Here, I was a little bored. The payoff just didn't have mu...

Rating of
3/4 

01/02/2012 (1 of 1 found this helpful)

The Best Drama in Over 4 Years

I've never read the book or seen the original and I'm glad. I think it made this movie better. David Fincher is one of the best filmmakers over the last 15 years.

The Story: Extremely deep. At times it gets carried away in all of the details. I didn't mind. I liked the complexity. I couldn't follow everything but I didn't really care. The character development is some of the best I have seen in a single movie since a Tarantino flick. The mystery that surrounds the movie is all set up by a simple mystery that started 40 years ago. Some may find this boring, but I felt it very engrossing.

Style/Cinematography: As you would expect with Fincher, absolutely top notch. Everything from the color usage, the clothes, the sets, the out door settings, the island. It all makes a unique movie se...

Rating of
3.5/4 

12/26/2011 (1 of 1 found this helpful)

A Remake That Dares To Compare

A Swedish business magnate’s 16-year-old niece vanishes without a trace and for 40 years he continues to try and solve what most presume to be a murder case. Part of his motivation comes from a collection of mounted flower pressings, a ritual birthday gift that his niece used to present to him - and he still receives every year. Thinking the killer is using the gift as a way to taunt him, the magnate continues to investigate long after others have given up.

‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ is Director David Fincher’s (‘The Social Network’, ‘The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’) own take of the original Swedish film (2009) of the same name. Fincher and writer Steven Zaillian (‘Money Ball, ‘Schindler’s List) stick pretty close to the original movie, but have taken a few liberties to ‘Am...

Rating of
3/4 

12/23/2011 (1 of 1 found this helpful)

Fincher's Dark Vision is a Worthy Remake

I am a fan of the original Swedish version of the film, and when I first heard they were going to do an American remake, I had my doubts. Yet when I heard David Fincher was attached, I was suddenly interested again. Fincher is meticulous to detail and no one can craft a dark vision better - needless to say, this film was in the right hands.

Is Fincher's film better than the original? I would say it's just as good (I awarded both the same score). One thing they got right is the tag line - this is the feel bad movie of the year. From the opening, that looks like it could come out of a NIN 90's era video - Trent Reznor's version of Immigrant Song with Karen O on vocals plays over an oil-drenched, technological nightmare - that's the best way I can describe it - and you know this movie isn...

Rating of
3.5/4