Let me start off by saying that (contrary to what some people think) this is NOT a remake of the brilliant 2009 Swedish film staring Noomi Rapace. It's simply a different adaptation of Steig Larsson's best selling book.
But I admit to being a bit skeptical when this project was first announced. I loved the 2009 film and didn't see much sense in another one. But I decided to give it a chance, especially when I heard David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club) had signed on to direct. I'm glad I did :)
The movie is about a disgraced journalist named Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig). He's hired by the wealthy Henrik Vanger to investigate the dissapearance of his grandniece Harriet, which occured 40 years ago. Mikael is aided by a very troubled young computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara, who gives an unbeleivable performance).
For those not familiar with the book, I must warn you that this movie is EXTREMELY graphic. Not only the violence and torture, but there's two rape scenes that (even though I knew they would happen) had myself and pretty much everyone in the theater cringing.
This movie had me on the edge of my seat. I love a good myster/thriller. David Fincher did an amazing job setting the tone. The musical score (done by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, who also did the score for The Social Network) was really good. Will have to download it at some point.
But my favorite part of the movie was the performances. I'm a huge fan of Daniel Craig and think he was perfect for the role of Mikael Blomkvist. But of course the real star of this movie is Rooney Mara. She completely transformed herself for the role. I'm glad Fincher decided to go with a relatively unknown actress for the role of Lisbeth. Rooney was nominated for a Golden Globe for this and it was well deserved. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets an Oscar nomination as well.
I really don't have anything negative to say about the movie. Not that it's perfect by any means. If I had to pick something, I'd say that I wasn't too crazy about how Fincher changed the ending. It's not a major change or anything, but it's different from the book. That's really the only change that I can remember. The rest of the movie was a very faithful adaptation, even more so than the one from 2009.
So which version of the film was better, this one or the one from 2009? I really hate to compare them. They're both so good. Noomi Rapace was an excellent Lisbeth but I think Rooney Mara did just as good of a job. Although I must admit Rooney's version was more how I pictured Lisbeth when I read the book. And Daniel Craig was a much better choice for Mikael. Not to knock the actor who played him in the Swedish film. He was good but not at all how I thought Mikael should look.
As long as you have a fairly strong stomach, I would say go see this film. You don't necessarily have to read the book first (although I highly reccomend you read it and the other two books anyway). As I said it's a very faithful adaptation for the most part. Much credit to David Fincher for creating another amazing film. He's really proven himself to be a top notch director.
My Rating: 9/10
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