Rough, thrilling, and a classic mystery

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2011)

I'm a big fan of David Fincher. All of the 5 films I have seen from him range from great (Se7en) to masterful (The Social Network, Fight Club). However, when I learned he was doing another version of the Swedish original based on a novel, I wasn't exactly thrilled. Having never read the novel, I could only base it on the Swedish original, and that one never rose above just good. The story sounds great, it just never left me really hooked. Fincher's version accomplished more with the same source material.
The opening sequence of the film is excellent, as everyone has already said. It's the best opening of the year. Then we follow Michael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. Very similar to the Swedish version, but also executed differently. Basically, pretty much what one would expect from Fincher, although there is a big difference. I expected a very cold atmosphere, and that same atmosphere although works can also be off- putting. Yet, while the film does have that, it also plays a lot with different colors. It's atmosphere stands out from the Swedish version's, and overall it's much more involving and thrilling. The different settings changed in the film, as well as some of the interactions and such. This version is more thrilling.
Then we have Rooney Mara. I had expected good from her, and then I heard raves for her performance. Yet, I didn't really see her expanding on what Rapace did. Somehow, she's given more material to work with, and she expands on the complexities and the hidden feelings that her character has. This is an excellent performance, and she managed to surprise me with how much she does with just a still face. It's even in the small moments as well. Daniel Craig is a more investing protagonist than the one from the Swedish version, and he did more than I had expected him to. He shows many vulnerabilities that I didn't expect.
One of the major differences is the ending of this and the ending of the other version. The way this version revealed the truth about the prime antagonist and about Harriet was handled much better here, but it has some problems in the final 20 minutes. After the big climax is over, it takes too long to wrap things up. Fincher's version doesn't add any ambiguities. One of my favorite aspects of the Swedish original was the way that lisbeth ends the attacker, and a conflict between how she handled it and how Michael wanted it to end. Here, all of that is removed. I was disappointed in this. Also, this version adds more to the ending of what Lisbeth is doing undercover. I thought this worked well. I have not seen the other two films based on the trilogy, but I felt that this version handled it in a good, but different way. And the final scene, surprisingly, worked. I wouldn't have thought it could if reading it on paper, but it did.
Overall, this is an excellent film. It doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary, and when looked at is pretty simple and straight-forward, but in that respect it works. Many will find this structure solid, if unexciting, but it adds to the richness of the characters. I loved it for even more reasons I can't explain, and I do think it's better than the Swedish film.