Good but Swedish version is better.

Rating: 7/10 (9 January 2012)

I enjoyed this version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". It was a well made and well acted movie and I gave it a 7/10 rating. But I enjoyed the Swedish version more, 8/10. The Swedish version was truer to the book and a bit more coherent. The acting in both movies was fine, some great performances in both and I can't really fault either movie. I thought the American version could have been a bit confusing since they took such liberties with the book's narrative. The main character of Mikael Blomkvist in the American version was a bit less conspicuous which is a good thing since I got rather sick of Mikael Blomkvist by the end of the third book. He wasn't a believable character since he was so self-righteous and such a ladies man. His portrayal by Michael Nyqvist in the Swedish version was also underplayed, and well acted. The really big difference between the versions was the portrayal of Lisbeth Salander. She was the biggest draw of the books and the movies and her character drove the narrative for me. Noomi Rapace portrayed her in the Swedish version and was wonderful in the role. She was Lisbeth Salander to me. Rooney Mara in the American version was good but not in the same league with Noomi Rapace. In the American film she came across as a more deliberately rude, petulant little girl, like a spoiled ,rich, high schooler who did what she did to get attention and anger people. Noomi Rapace's version came across as a more disturbed person, someone who just didn't have social skills or even thought about them. In the books she was more of a idiot savant or someone who could have Asperger syndrome. She was horrible mistreated as a youth but was extremely intelligent and talented. Noomi Rapace had that down. Her most interesting scenes were as Lisbeth sitting and thinking. You could see the wheels turning. You could see her figure things out. Rooney Mara didn't have that. She just was shock value. Not that she was bad in the role but just not deep enough. She bragged more and was more out there with her personality. Noomi Rapace was very internal and disliked anyone getting close to her. She had few friends and even with them she was very reserved. It was a wonderfully intriguing portrayal. Both movies are good but if you are a fan of the books you may like the Swedish version more with Noomi Rapace's portrayal of Lisbeth Salander.