Fincher Teaches An Old Dog New Tricks!

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2012)

'Dragon Tattoo' hit the cinemas on Boxing Day, only two years after the original Swedish version arrived, a massive hit in its own right. Both films are based on the bestselling book, written by Stieg Larsson as part of his 'Millennium' trilogy. You'd have to question why Hollywood would remake a movie so soon after the original, but that tells you a lot about the state of Hollywood right now.
Pros and cons aside, though, this is a fun movie. That needs to be established. I was engaged, I didn't get bored, I was even leaning forward at points because I was so immersed in it. When you have a team of people that includes David Fincher, Daniel Craig and Christopher Plummer, that's the least you should expect, and it succeeds on that level.
The story quickly - disgraced journalist Mikael Blomqvist (Craig) is asked by the retired and stupidly wealthy Henrik Vanger (Plummer) to find out which member of the Vanger family killed his granddaughter fifty years ago. Blomqvist agrees, and quickly starts his investigation. He ends up finding out about Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a girl with incredible hacking skills and a very distinctive tattoo. She helps him with the investigation, and the rest of the film is them trying to solve the case.
But, obviously, no good film is ever as simple as that. There are lots of smaller sub-plots and character histories, adding more layers to the story, and pushing it beyond the typical whodunnit. While it's good those layers are there – and I'm sure the books delve much deeper – the restricted running time means that those subplots aren't fully explored. I won't go into spoiler territory, but we have to believe characters are able to achieve things without consequence, so the movie doesn't slow down. The exact same problems are there in the original Swedish version; I really wish Fincher had tried to remove those problems, but he didn't. Another issue with the Swedish version was the controversy over the graphic sexual violence in the movie. There's graphic sexual violence in this version too, and it's not for the squeamish. But, frankly, it's justified. Those scenes do as much a good job of building character and tone as any in the movie.
But enough of where Fincher falters, let's talk about where he excels. A quick IMDb search showed me that I've seen almost every Fincher film, and they're all great. The guy knows how to make a film. What he does best of all is bring out outstanding performances from actors who don't really seem suited to their role. Brad Pitt in Fight Club; Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network; and now, Rooney Mara. Mara is stunningly good as Lisbeth, just fantastic. Vulnerable, unhinged, sexy, detached, steely, feminine – she goes through a whole gambit of emotions without really ever saying much. It's all in the eyes. Her partner in crime is Daniel Craig; granted, this is a role we've seen Craig do many times, but that's not a shot. He does it well. But what really griped me was the fact that everybody spoke in Swedish accents, except Craig. Why? It made no sense. You forget about it eventually, but it's still puzzling.
I'm not gonna go on and on about every single cast member, because it'd be a waste of your time. But if you know the people on this list: Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wrightthen you know you're in for some great performances.
The other bits of the film – the music, the cinematography, the editing – are typically brilliant. The music's all techno-y, the cinematography is all Swedish-y, and the editing is all frenetic-y. And you've got a cover of Led Zep right at the beginning, which is always welcome, despite the fact that the opening montage is more Bond-like than anything else. It seems out of place from the rest of the film, but good visually nonetheless.
There are things to fault, it's not perfect film. But it's still a brilliant one. For Mara's performance alone, it's worth watching. Inevitably, people will compare her to the original Girl, Noomi Rapace, but Mara makes the character her own. Everyone else is just as great, and you're left with a movie that leaves you wanting more. And, conveniently, we won't be far away from more.
Watch it.