Brilliant, dark, unhinged, beautifully haunting

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2012)

There was so much talk and anger over an 'American' Version of the Swedish version of The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo. I hope that the final product puts much of those angry words to rest because David Fincher scores again with one of the greatest dark mystery thrillers I have ever seen. I went in with mediocre expectations, I have never read the book and don't particularly care to. Everything about this movie simply works, much the same as Fincher did with Social Network a year ago. The beautiful music, the breath taking dark and twisted setting of Northern Sweden, the brilliant characters (edging out any performance from the original film even), and the fact that they held nothing back including the violent rape scene and the vengeance scenes that followed. It is the definition of an epic with multiple stories all surrounding the main plot of an ages old murder mystery. From beginning to end I was riveted and just constantly stunned by the darkness and the gritty feel to the film making it easily one of the best films of the year and I might ridiculously shut out by the Academy for everyone except Rooney Mara.
I might have completely given up on the Academy Awards if Rooney Mara hadn't gotten a nomination because in my opinion she single handedly gives one of the best performances I have ever seen on screen. She is brilliant, absolutely haunting, twisted, emotional and driven as the socially inept, deeply scarred but intellectually brilliant Lisbeth Salander. I have no doubt she took a page from the performance of Noomi Rapace in the Swedish version but adds levels that Rapace didn't touch. Daniel Craig proves he's not just James Bond by playing disgraced reporter Mikael Blomkvist. I think he just blew away the role compared to the original Swedish version. He added depth, layer, compassion, and a level of the anti-hero the character was meant to have. His odd but palpable connection and chemistry with Mara's Lisbeth is brilliant. Christopher Plummer adds immediate class to the cast although he has a sadly very small role but does well in it. Stellan Skarsgård is also excellent as Martin Vanger who gives Craig a run for his money. The supporting cast is good enough including Plummer and Skarsgård, but Craig and Mara bury anyone else.
As much is the film about Craig and Mara's performance as it is about the setting of this film. Its dark and cloudy and very grey all throughout and it just haunts you and rivets you to the screen. The film isn't perfect, I think setting it in Sweden but having people with English accents is a bit much to overcome but it won't take away from the brilliance of this film. Fincher truly surprised me with Social Network, a movie I had no expectations of and blew me away, and now this film. It isn't for the faint of heart and the rape scene is absolutely brutal, as is the actions she takes after, but you can't but be in true awe of everything this film is. Brilliant! 10/10