Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: A "Holy Sh**" Review.

Wow... its been a while since my last movie review post... like a LONG while. College will do that.

But since its 2012, I thought "Hey, the world's going to end soon. Might as well get back to what I started"

Thing is, not sure if I'll be able to have the time like I used to have to write reviews. So I'm thinking of switching to video. Just hope I can put up with talking to a camera.

So what movie did I see? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the American Interpretation.

Now yes, a friend of mine told me "Dude, you got trolled, the Swedish version is better". Well, true. I haven't seen the original, nor have I read the book. Or its sequels (or prequels if you want to be specific). However, I do plan on seeing the original, but I saw this first so that when I DO see the original, I wont worry about missed subtitles.

Before we get into the story, we should discuss the intro. It start with an old man making a call about a mysterious package that apparently has been coming repeatedly in the mail. Then we get the most metal music video intro EVER with version of Led Zeppelin's The Immigrant Song by Karen O with Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose. The imagery uses a lot of ink, black oil, and C.G.I. So it kind of serves a purpose of "shocking" the viewer into the story, rather than easing them in. And that theme goes out through out the movie. In the film, there is a trend of silent, quiet scenes, followed by the most intense sh** you've ever seen (well, if you haven't seen A Serbian Film).

Now to the story. The film follows our protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a journalist who has just walked out of court, being sued for libel due to a article he wrote on a billion dollar company. He lost. His life consists of an ongoing affair with his publisher, and trouble talking to his daughter who has found religion.

Add glasses, and your automatically convinced they are playing a writer.

He is hired by Henrik Vanger, a retired CEO, to handle a delicate matter. Under the guise of doing a memoir on Henrik, he is actually hired to try and investigate the disappearance of his niece, an event that happened 40 years ago. Henrik is convinced that she was killed, despite no body being found. He also believes a member of his family is responsible.

However, before Mikael is hired, Henrik's people at Milton Security do a thorough background check on him. Enter our next protagonist: Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).  Researcher and a bad ass computer hacker.

How bad ass of a computer hacker? Put it this way, every scene she has a computer, I was thinking Jolie from Hackers. 

Yes. That bad ass.

Lisbeth is a twenty three year old ward of the state, due to being deemed mentally incompetent. Her personality is asocial, and is very angry at times, but within reason. She is a woman with a mysterious past, and only had one guardian that she cared for and visited. However, when her guardian suffers from a stroke, her life becomes much more harder, becoming a victim and overcoming it.

What I like about the film is the fact that the two character's don't meet until about half way through the movie. Instead of having them team up right away, we get a valid look into each of their lives, so the style of parallel stories in the first half really does build characterization.

The mystery of the disappearance is truly the style of an old murder drama set on a much larger scale. Instead of "one of the hotel guests was the murderer", its "someone on this island is the murderer."  The film does get quiet and suspenseful at only a few moments, but they are done REALLY well. As someone who didn't know the story, I was really happy that I never knew what was going to happen next.

The acting was amazing. Every scene involving Mikael interviewing a family member always gives off a sense of suspicion. No one is obviously guilty, and yet there is still an air of conviction about them.

The casting was also just perfect for each character. Daniel Craig does an excellent job of being the eyes of the audience as well as being a character. However, his performance is really out shined by Rooney Mara.

Holy freaking **** this girl mesmerized me, right when you see her for the first time. And no, its not because of the piercings and goth look. I've been around a few people to get used to that. It was the way the character... felt. She felt distant, and yet like you knew her. She was strong, and yet gave a sense of vulnerability.

That's why the pairing of these two characters work. You see the mystery through Mikael, while you feel with Lisbeth through HER ordeals.

I gotta make a comment on Rooney Mara's transformation. This is what she looked like before:

This is after:

This is before:

This is after:

Like I said, holy sh**. Talk about dedication. 

From Audrey Hepburn look-a-like, to a Hot Topic wet dream.

And this girl REALLY made a big jump in her career with this role and showed her acting talent. She went from being the love interest girl from The Social Network, and the screaming girl from the horrible Nightmare on Elm Street remake, to this role, which demands a lot from an actress. You have to play an independent rebel, a rape victim, be Swedish, and try to be convincing all at the same time.

Now, the events in this movie isn't exactly... for the squeamish. Or the prudish for that matter. There is a constant sex motif in the film, mainly in the forms of rape and affairs. Keep in mind, the original title was Män som hatar kvinnor, "Men who hate women". The story constantly revolves around the victimization of women, both physically, and in the end emotionally. You really feel it through Lisbeth's character, and what is true in society. Yes, men will say that sex is use by women as a weapon to bribe. But don't forget: Men also use sex as a weapon, and sadly, it's to inflict pain, and feel powerful. However, sex can also be used to feel comfort. Like all things, the issue of sex has it's duality.


The only thing I didn't like about the story: how it ended. I mean... wow. Given all the rape and murder and... more rape, you kinda hoped it ended on a better note.

Now all that's left for me to do is compare it to the original version.

And Rooney just became a new crush. Seriously, the girl can pass for Hepburn... that's awesome.