Fincher Scores Again

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2012)

I could tell, even before I saw it, that it was going to be a great movie, and I was not disappointed.
To me, David Fincher is one the best director on the planet, and it was great to see that he, yet again, has delivered an amazing movie.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, tells the story of Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), who is in the midst of a court case with powerful business man, Hans Wennerstrom. Shortly after Mikael is contacted by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), a Swedish industrialist, who offers him a job in searching for a killer from over 50 years prior. Soon after acquiring this job, Mikael hires Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to do research for the murder and together they discover that there is way more to the crime than meets the eye.
Of the movies from the Oscar season, none of them kept me as drawn in as Girl With the Dragon Tattoo did. The acting, the story, the score and the setting were all top notch.
Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist was done well. I've never seen Craig as a great James Bond, but playing an older man with evident vulnerabilities was much better suited for him. Rooney Mara, who was practically a nobody before this movie, turned up a performance that, to me, was worthy of the Oscar. I was a bigger of Rooney as Lisbeth Salander than Noomi Rapace (who was great in her own right, however). Rooney was great at portraying the victim in the earlier parts of the movie, and then made an amazing turnaround as an aggressive, take-charge woman. The rest of the cast was great, despite having less important roles, with an obvious stand-out being Stellan Skarsgard.
One thing that people may overlook when watching a movie is how much the score can improve a scene. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, just coming off Fincher's Social Network, turn in another score that fits with the movie and adds to scenes. The music in the final scene is absolutely perfect.
One thing Fincher has always been able to do in his movies is add his own charming touch and sense of humour to a extremely dark atmosphere. In GWTDT, he succeeds in this again, showing comedic moments in one of the darkest movies in recent memory.
It may be biased on my part, since I'm such a big fan of almost everyone involved in this movie, but it is truly a phenomenal film. Specific scenes may be to graphic to handle, and the overall feel of the film may be too grim for some, but it's one of the best serial killer movies ever made.
10/10