A good thriller, with one caveat

Rating: 6/10 (6 September 2016)

David Fincher's adaptation of the intensely popular Scandinavian crime novel is quite exemplary in many respects. The sprawling story of the novel is condensed and brought to life on the screen by a very skilled scriptwriter; the cast of seasoned performers bring the various characters from the page to life very well; and Fincher's direction is as ever very, very good, which makes this a stylish and easy watch.
However, there's one huge caveat to go with this review: a prior adaptation of the novel already exists, namely the 2009 Swedish version featuring Noomi Rapace. The problem with this Hollywood version is that it's not as good as the Swedish one, even though it has a bigger budget. The Swedish version already did everything perfectly and can't, honestly, be improved upon; take Rooney Mara, who tries very hard as Salander, but who can't match Rapace's embodiment of the role. And Daniel Craig is Daniel Craig; he's no Michael Nykqvist. So as good as this version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is, it was already done in a more authentic way, so there's little reason to watch.