The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

When ever a foreign language film becomes hugely successful, Hollywood will try to remake it. When it is based on a hugely successful novel then that's even more reason to make an English language version.

It is a sad fact of life that when people go to a movie they don't want to work too hard to enjoy it. Most of the time they just want to sit back and relax and let all the work be done for them. I'm fine with that. But enjoying the occasional foreign language film would be good for people. Especially when it is as good as the original Swedish version of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'.

I know it is wrong for a critic to have 'baggage' when watching a film but it is only natural to compare different versions of the same film. I'm a huge fan of David Fincher and I've loved every film he has done. In some ways I feel he was a little bit of an obvious choice to direct this film but if anyone can do a good job then I know he can. David has made an excellent thriller. But for me it lacked the impact of the original. This new version felt too clean and slick. Where as the original had a grittiness to it that made it feel a bit dirty which suited the story. On the good side though this film moves along at a quicker pace, especially in the first half of the film. Being an American film the violence has lost its impact as well with certain scenes being tamer than the original. The ending ha been changed a bit here too. One aspect I was not very pleased with but the other I did not mind.

Poor Rooney Mara had the tough job of filling a role which was made a significant impact on the original film. Noomi Rapace was so incredibly good that you could not imagine anyone else doing such a good job. For me Rooney give an excellent performance and suits the role in that aspect. The one thing I did not like was her look. The bleeched eyebrows make her look plain and a bit androgynous. Noomi looked gorgeous and sexy despite the hardcore outfits and make up. Rooney does not. Daniel Craig is an excellent choice for Michael Blomkvist. He gives one of his best performances here. A little understated but very emotive when he needs to be. Christopher Plummer gives another wonderfully dignified performance as the patriarch of a crazy family. Stellen Skarsgard is nicely creepy in his role.

An excellent thriller and well worth seeing if you have not seen the original Swedish version as a first step. Then go see the original to see how it should be done.