Just as good as the original.. but for different reasons...

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2012)

Having seen the 2009 Swedish version of this film I thought it might be interesting to see how Hollywood treated it. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The location and key elements of the story were kept the same, but obviously a bigger budget allowed for a more cinematic experience. I will give you my thoughts after this brief summary.
When journalist and Editor Mikael Blomkvist is sued by a businessman he had written a story about, he finds himself with no savings and a reputation in tatters. Fortunately, an industrialist, Henrik Vanger, wants him to investigate the disappearance of his niece, Harriet, over forty years ago. Before engaging him, Vanger had Blomkvist investigated by a security firm who had used the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker Lisbeth Salander as the investigator. We follow Blomkvist's investigation along with events in Lisbeth's life (which are sometimes quite hard to watch). Eventually Blomkvist reaches a point where he needs an assistant and Lisbeth is recommended to him. This is where things start to get really interesting and also the point I will stop my little summary. I don't want the Spoiler Police on my doorstep as 3AM (again).
Beautifully shot and very well produced; David Fincher has a well deserved reputation as a filmmaker and it shows. Great performances all round; Daniel Craig did a great job as Mikael Blomkvist, as did Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, she had a very tough act to follow in Noomi Rapace but I thought she acquitted herself well. Also worth of note were; Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger, Stellan Skarsgård as Martin Vanger, Steven Berkoff as Frode, Robin Wright as Erika Berger and Yorick van Wageningen as Bjurman.
Having seen the original I cannot but fail to make comparisons and I must say this version is just as good. I say that because I found this one a lot easier to follow, the storyline has been streamlined somewhat. Also, the production is far more elaborate; it obviously had a much bigger budget. As far as performances go though I think the original has the edge; to me Noomi Rapace played the part of Lisbeth Salander so well that anyone else playing that part was going to struggle to top it. Don't get me wrong, Rooney Mara did a fine job and if I hadn't seen Noomi Rapace in the role I may well have been singing her praises. I have given this version the same score as the original and I'm very happy to give it my seal of approval: Recommended.
My score: 8.2/10.
IMDb Score: 8.2/10 (based on 20,621 votes when this review was written).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 86/100 (based on 190 reviews counted at the time of going to press). Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 90/100 (based on 45,575 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).