The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rating: 8/10 (12 August 2010)

Swedish puzzler/thriller about a damaged young women, Lisbeth Salander(Noomi Rapace), whose skills as a hacker(including her technical know-how in regards to surveillance)are well utilized by a specific corporation, helps a soon-to-be-imprisoned news reporter, Mikael Biomkvist(Michael Nyqvist, in an excellent, understated performance)as they attempt to find out what happened to a wealthy man's niece, Harriet. Henrik Vanger(Sven-Bertil Taube)is a very old man who yearns to discover what happened to his beloved Harriet, who vanished some 40 years ago, still receiving pictures of flowers from who he believes to be her killer. As the two join forces after a unique set of circumstances unifies them(paid by a Vanger personally to dig up any information pertaining to Blmkvist, she finds nothing criminal, which motivates Henrik to hire him; her continual hacking into Mikael's hard drive, she provides info which assists in moving the case forward), the search for Harriet may actually uncover a serial killer who was using bible verses as a means to symbolize the horrific crimes. Could Harriet have been a victim of this killer as well? Also, Blomkvist finds that several of the Vangers were Nazi loyalists. This is one of those thrillers which carries two down a dark road which yields unpleasant truths about a powerful family, the ole "skeletons in the closet" are revealed. The scene where Blomkvist is bound and seemingly at the mercy of the remorseless psychopath is chilling to the bones.
A word of warning: there's a guardian assigned to Lisbeth who is a perverse deviant who wants sexual favors(which soon includes rough sex and anal abuse)in return for granting her money that she normally handled herself. He blackmails her by threatening to send her back to a psychological ward if she doesn't "behave" and adhere to his desires. This includes a terrible rape which may be hard to watch, but there's payback for this sumbitch's evil deeds..Lisbeth gets his ass big time(emphasis on ass). Interesting development, the much older Blomkvist is startled when Lisbeth wakes him up in the middle of the night to have sex with him(could be a little creepy for some folks, but I found it rather surprisingly erotic). Important storyline involving a flashback to Lisbeth's past could explain part of why she's so distant, such a loner who has a hard time attaining emotional bonds..it also deals with why Lisbeth needs a guardian in the first place.
What I found absorbing was the use of photographs as a way to unlock the great mystery, and I think the investigative side of the movie(following the leads one step at a time, dead ends are removed, Lisbeth a major contributor to the answers which come to fruition)can be gripping if you let yourself be taken in.
A story thread that is almost forgotten once the central plot takes over involves Mikel's future prison time due to his being set up by faulty sources in regards to a corrupt businessman he was trying to expose(this businessman's fate is a humdinger).