Poor imitation of the Swedish version

Rating: 4/10 (1 April 2012)

This film might as well have been made in Cleveland as in Stockholm. There's nothing remotely Swedish about the two main characters, Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomqvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Craig is his generic-action-figure self and Mara lacks the edginess that made Noomi Rapace so distinctive as Lisbeth -- attractive and repulsive at the same time. Only Christopher Plummer is really suited to his role.
The makers of the American film have tampered with the plot in some ways, simplifying it at the expense sometimes of confusing what is clear in the first novel of the Stieg Larrson' trilogy. But that's considerably less of a problem than the failure to evoke the atmosphere and the context of the original.
It will be interesting to see what becomes of Robin Wright as Erika Berger in later episodes. Her position as Mikael's lover having been reduced in this telling, it may prove difficult to establish her central role in the plots of the two remaining parts of the trilogy.
A word more about Noomi Rapace. It's been said that she was unwilling to reprise her role as Lisbeth in the American films. I'm inclined to believe that she might have changed her mind if enough money had been offered. Certainly, the role in which she is expected to make her American debut will make much less of a splash than she would have made as Lisbeth. Rooney Mara is okay as Lisbeth and may one day be a star. Rapace was as memorable on film as Lisbeth was in the trilogy. As for language, I assume that like every Swede I've ever known, Rapace must be able to speak English and, if she has a Swedish accent, so much the better. At least one of the characters in the film ought to have seemed Swedish.
I have just seen this film for a second time, and, it is so memorable that I didn't remember having seen it the first time. My reaction this time around was the same as the first. Christopher Plummer is an outstanding addition, Craig and Mara aren't good substitutes for the characters in the Swedish film, and the plot simplifications obscure the story. I wish I could react differently because it's a hell of a good story.