The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Movie Review
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Movie Review
Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch To Live.
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Nazis are all the rage in movies right now — here at horror.com in the past several months, we've reviewed Inglourious Basterds, Blood Creek, The Unborn, Dead Snow, Shutter Island… and now The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo joins the Führer-fray.
This well-regarded Swedish murder mystery is based on part one in a trilogy of bestselling books by Stieg Larsson, which sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Tragically, Larsson did not live to see the phenomenon of his imaginative works; the 50-year-old political protestor and journalist died of a heart attack in 2004 soon after delivering the manuscripts, which he wrote mainly for pleasure and with little ambition, to his publisher. There is speculation Larsson's career as an activist, and having had his life threatened by enemies, may have been a factor in his sudden coronary — but more than likely, it just makes for a good story.
Fortunately, award-winning Danish director Niels Arden Oplev can tell a very good story, too. He was able to make a movie as lush, dense, character- and story-driven as the lauded novel.
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a punky-looking, wiry computer hacker who relates to 0 and 1 far better than XY. She's a feral, nervous creature, beaten by life and abused by the men around her, but she's forced to interact with males whether she likes it or not. There's the sadistic parole officer she must see weekly; there's the blouzy supplier of her computer hardware and upgrades; there's her employer, for whom she works as a researcher, surveiller, and spy.
When Lisbeth is put on the case of disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), she uncovers not only his secrets, but helps him blow the lid off of a 40+ year old cold case that threatens to expose a white-hot Pandora's Box of corruption within the confines of one of Sweden's most respected families.
The gruesome serial killer theme of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (and its unflinching gaze at the crimes' aftermaths) would be enough to recommend this film for fans of horror and suspense, but there is much more to this film. The characters, so well-acted by every single player, are deep, interesting and well as interested, flawed, smart and sometimes foolhardy.
The mystery is compelling, the back-stories are vivid, and there are shocks and surprises around every corner. But unlike your typical bombastic American thriller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo takes its time to unfold, revealing three major plot threads and then expertly weaving them together deeper beyond the surface. The music, cinematography, set design and locations are all marvelous, each adding to the richness of the 2-1/2 hour experience.
While you'd never know it, the expansive feature was assembled from material shot for two 90-minute TV movies. Films based on the other Millennium novels (The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), helmed by second unit director Daniel Alfredson, were released in Denmark and star both Nyqvist and Rapace. There is no word yet on whether The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo's U.S. distributor (Music Box) will also pick these up.
We do know Sony Pictures has optioned the English-language screen rights for a remake, with names like Brad Pitt and George Clooney being bandied about. They are good actors, but Lord knows which tabloid tart might be chosen for the role of Lisbeth… While the source material and precedent set by this first cinematic adaptation do hopefully raise the bar high for a talented U.S. team, it's still a shame that this perfectly good movie can't just be left alone. (But that doesn't mean YOU should leave it alone — make sure you're in the theater on March 19, when the Swedish language version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is released [limited].)
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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