The Tattoo says it all

Rating: 5/10 (29 February 2012)

I haven't read the books, I have watched the original Swedish trilogy, and I've read with interest many of the reviews here.
It comes down to this: the Tattoo. It doesn't appear for long in either version, so pay attention, but it says everything about the movie: The Swedish version was a huge dark scary beast with its claws ripping out of Lisbeth's flesh. Pain and anger and danger and defiance, all there.
The US remake was more like: She's down at the Tattoo Parlour - I want a tattoo, what's in the catalog? Maybe a butterfly. Oh, that dragon looks alright, let's have it.
Or more to the point, the people with the job of supplying the tattoo for this movie pulled out Dragon#3 from the nearest catalog of temporary tattoo decals.
While at the same time everyone else on the movie did a good, solid, workmanlike and uninspired job of the whole thing. They did to the character of Lisbeth what the artists did to the tattoo - watered it down, weakened it, trivialized it.
So, despite the content - replayed quite closely - the result hasn't got the punch.
Two examples (here's the Spoilers, spoilers for both versions so stop now if you haven't seen both):
************ SPOILERS ******************** The final chase, and the killer's demise. Lisbeth asks "Can I kill him?" No way, that's way out of character. And when he crashes, there's the Hollywood Car Crash Instant Explosion instead of the major plot point where she has the opportunity to rescue him, but instead chooses to stand and watch him burn. Which of course ties into her backstory (which is much understated in the US version).
And lastly - she buys the guy an expensive gift, then chucks it in a dumpster when she sees him with The Other Woman. Please..... That's so out of character. Much better the original, where her parting shot is the Gift of all the information he needs to nail his nemesis, and a rapid, shy, don't-look-back departure.
Perhaps Hollywood will remake Butch & Sundance with the final scene changed so they crawl out thru the drains or something, cut to kangaroos in the sunset...
Or Patrick Swayze washes ashore in New Zealand....