A bit disappointing for someone who has read the book

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2011)

First of all, why does Daniel Craig keep his British accent while everyone else in the movie does a Swedish accent? This gives the movie an Englishman in Sweden feel, instead of a wholly Swedish story feel. Maybe Daniel Craig got dropped into the movie at the last minute and maybe for that reason also, he never manages to quite capture Blomkvist properly, he's not the tired, financially ruined reporter whose career has just been destroyed escaping his problems, but he comes off as an strong, athletic, physical presence, headstrong and determined.
I admit that I finished reading the book right before seeing the movie and probably for that reason the movie felt more like a PBS re-enactment of the book rather than a feature film. The movie felt like it lacked style and when it did apply style, it felt grossly out of tone. For example, the James Bondesque opening "immigrant song" sequence which seems hardly appropriate for a sleepy murder mystery that aims to explore themes of sexual sadism, Nazism, anti-Semitism etc.
The original book is not without its faults, while brilliant in places the author filled in gaps with tripe. Nothing characterizes this more than Lisbeth which the author Larsson made into an Asperger's syndrome inflicted super-intelligent super-human. The movie version of Lisbeth is sexy and cool but cartoonish. There is no effort to elucidate Lisbeth and her actions, she just is cool and smart and that is all we get about her.
Having read the book probably puts me in a different category than a large portion of the audience for the movie. While it's never possible to tell a 400-page plus novel in a three hour movie, I really wished for style and focus rather than a quick retelling of the story. It's disappointing that the movie just aims to tell the story rather than take risks and explore themes and ambiances while visually telling the story. Finally as a side note, for those who read the book, the movie version eliminates the Australian sheep station, which leads to a change in the tone of certain characters from the book.