The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I think I ended my review of Niels Arden Oplev’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo saying something like you should see this before the inevitable US remake….well, here it is. The good news is that it’s David Fincher's first film since The Social Network. The bad news is that, predictably, it’s only on a par with the original. Speaking of that, it’s actually a bit tricky to review this as its possible if you watch this without seeing the Swedish version you may get a bit more out of it. However, as this is basically the Hollywood version of a recently well received European film, comparisons are hard to avoid. Things start well with a disturbing opening credits sequence (complimented by another Trent Reznor score) hinting at the dark storyline ahead. There’s no point in me describing the crux of what happens next as I’ve already mentioned it in my previous review and I don’t want to give anything away in case this is your first time tackling Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander’s shenanigans. As mentioned at the start, this film isn’t any better or worse than the Swedish version. Some bits are improvements, some aren't. Though it’s not a carbon copy, Steven Zaillian’s screenplay isn’t far removed from the earlier Swedish screenplay, so if you are seeing this for the first time you will probably enjoy it. Though be warned that a number of the harshest scenes are still intact, including the very icky rape scene. The area where the Swedish version takes this one apart though is the comparison between Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara. Mara puts herself through the ringer here, but it’s impossible for her (for anyone?) to follow Rapace’s barnstorming performance. Rapace had the advantage of being an unknown so when we were watching her she was Salander. Mara just looks like a glamorous film actress with a lot of makeup on (natch). She’s missing that dangerous edge that Rapace bought to the show. In part this is Fincher’s fault. Usually he’s tough on his actors, but here he doesn’t seem to get enough from Mara, especially in scenes where she’s meant to be expressing internal emotional turmoil she just looks like a moody teenager. There are some improvements on the previous film though. Some characters have been dropped that just added confusion before, there’s a line in dark humour that pops up every now and then (Salander’s F-word riddled t-shirt providing the highlight) and there’s a superb touch involving sliding doors and girls’ screams. Speaking of that, I wouldn’t mind seeing Fincher try an out and out horror sometime soon. His unsettling lingering shots and cameras going round corners suggest he could give us something special in that genre if he ever ventures there one day. As for Fincher’s overall direction here it has his usual cold and calculated approach, but there just appears to be something missing. What with the book and previous film already out there it’s like he’s just going through the motions with this one. As for the ending and, much like the Swedish version, the epilogue here feels tacked on and doesn’t really work. Though why Fincher disregards an important shot that Oplev had in his film that reveals the true extent of the killers crime(s) isn’t clear. I guess he wanted his own take on the matter, but by not having it the impact of the severity of what has gone on is lessened considerably. Though nothing can explain the odd as hell decision to have Enya playing out during one of the films critical scenes. Some serious credibility of the film goes missing at that point. All this and I’ve yet to mention Daniel Craig as Blomkvist. As you’d expect he’s fine and he’ll be back anyway (along with Mara) as, despite the lukewarm box office return of this film, the next two follow ups have been green lit. I doubt we’ll see Fincher attached to them though.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Same rating as the Swedish version. If you had a choice I’d recommend that one for Rapace alone. Rating: 7/10.