Was never a template for the big screen.

Rating: 3/10 (10 June 2011)

The book's commercial success has inevitably lead to the development of this adaptation. Based on the unfolding plot of the film, however skeletal it may be to the book, it has certainly extinguished any interest I had in this literary phenomenon.
The film is rather formulaic and generic but hopes to bolster its difference with its dark and broody atmosphere. However, the darkness in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is suffocating rather then compelling and originality or vibrancy, that I thought this film may produce (having no concept of the story), and based on its huge literary success was non-existent. Dan Brown's adaptations (Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons) although a poor relation to his page-turning books had stimuli, something of consequence. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo you are joining a murder investigation which has been unsuccessful for over thirty years, and of little relevancy apart to an ensconced and broken family. Furthermore, the private investigator discovers clues that any astute and professional police investigator should of deduced.
The main plot, driven by excellent performances from the two leads never gets in gear. The main protagonist's unclear past and eccentric behaviour does not excel the film in any character driven manner, and their attempt to make this film a character study come murder mystery falls flat. The screenwriters try to bring in a couple of subplots but these are barely introduced before they are just as quickly concluded.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a cumbersome and idle affair with the story essentially not evolving at any satisfactory level. The film pursues its inevitable and ugly course... A story I think that should be read rather than seen.