David Fincher's new adaptation of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is a near-flawless mystery/thriller...

Rating: 9/10 (9 April 2012)

I suppose I should star this review by saying I have never read Stieg Larsson's original book, now have I seen the previous trilogy of films adapted from his "The Girl..." books. I came into this film open and willing to accept it as it was- with no pre-conceived notions, nor anything to compare it to.
Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, The Game, The Social Network) delivers this new adaptation (not a remake of the other film, but rather a fresh adaptation of the novel) of the neo-classic book. Starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, with some outstanding supporting roles from the likes of Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright and Christopher Plummer, this film is an exceedingly strong and well-crafted mystery with some shockingly strong hints of suspense and even at times horror. It is an expertly crafted tale that has just a few minor flaws keeping it from getting a perfect 10 from me.
Craig stars as Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist whom has just lost much of his savings in a libel case against a powerful businessman he accused of having criminal ties with in his newspaper. Trying to get out of the public eye and lick his wounds, he accepts an invitation from Henrik Vanger, a wealth Swedish magnate, to come stay with him and help him solve an elusive mystery of who murdered his grandniece. Blomkvist is pulled into the mystery, intricately tied into Vanger's demented family (itself made up of recluses, distrusting people and even former members of the Nazi youth and German Army), as he searches for clues as to the girl's true fate and murderer.
At the same time, Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but deeply different and troubled young woman (Rooney Mara), whom was hired to perform a background check on Blomkvist, faces her own series of heart-breaking obstacles, before she joins Blomkvist to solve the mystery. More on Mara later.
Fincher's direction is absolutely outstanding. From a solid (but flawed) script by Steven Zallian, Fincher is able to craft a dark, Gothic, brooding but still somehow beautiful and touching scope for the film. The visual direction and Fincher's choice in shots are expertly done, and he does throw in a few insane shots in the vain of his former classics like "Fight Club". (Mainly in the insane and jaw-dropping opening credits, a nightmarish and "oily" montage set to disturbing techno-like remix of "Immigrant Song")
The acting is uniformly perfect. Craig is outstanding as Blomkvist and delivers a stunning, layered performance. Skarsgard and Wright make for compelling supporting roles, and Plummer is absolutely magnificent and will evoke tears as an old man who merely wants peace with his one big regret in life.
Rooney Mara, however, is a revelation. Her portrayal of Lisbeth is absolutely stunning. I almost cannot describe it. I had seen Mara in several other films, and she was completely and utterly unrecognizable. She inhabits the character in a way that is impossible to fathom- she isn't acting- she IS Lisbeth. I am flabbergasted that she didn't win an Accademy Award for the role. I honestly cannot believe it.
This praise being said, the film isn't perfect. As mentioned, the script is fairly flawed. I suppose in that adapting the novel for film, it was extremely hard to fit in all of the major characters and moments. So the film does feel a bit over-stuffed, even at about 150 minutes in length. It could have used another 20 minutes just to slow down the pace, because often I found myself unable to keep up with certain moments. While most people generally complain about what could have been cut out of movies, I think this is a case where the film should have been longer.
In addition, there are some small problems and aesthetic flaws to the film. While the score (courtesy Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) is haunting and breathtaking, at times it does overpower the images. In addition, even as a mainly American production, it is hard to keep up with conversations at times with all of the foreign accents, names, references, etc. I'm not nit-picking, either. Some of the smartest, most cultured people I know couldn't understand the dialog at times. (I even know a few foreign people who couldn't tell what was being said in certain scenes) They could have taken a bit more care to mask some of the more exotic accents and language. Finally, Fincher is perhaps too subtle with the mystery aspect of the story, and during key revelatory scenes, I couldn't understand what was happening.
That being said, this is a near flawless film. I am excited to see the two sequel books being made with the same cast (particularly the stunning Mara), and I have since become more and more interested in the books and the original film series.
I give "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" a 9 out of 10. Outstanding.