Not a film that would appeal to everyone but definitely worth a watch

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2013)

Spoilers will be present.....
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is David Fincher's latest film. The Millennium trilogy was only recently made in Sweden and was, from what I have heard, was decent to good. Now this Hollywood remake comes out only a short time later, and does it succeed? My answer is, for the most part, yes.
The driving plot of this film is the mystery of Harriet. I found that aspect of the plot extremely engaging. I wish that I have not read the book before I have seen this film, as the suspense and closely identifying the conclusion of Harriet became predictable. Fincher and Zaillian successfully keeps our attention and haves us figuring out on our own who may have killed her, so it was not their efforts that made me find the story predictable, and I blame myself for it. My pre-knowledge of the source material does not affect the score of this review. The disappointing aspect of the film's plot was the events after solving the mystery, it is though faithful to the book in exploring Lisbeth's feelings for Mikael and the repair of the broken reputation of Millennium and Mikael, but it doesn't hold up for me as the excitement and wonder of the Harriet's story really drove the film forward and was heavily focused, I even forgot at a point there was a problem outside the Vanger island/village. There are differences of the book and the film, in particular the Harriet resolution and it did bother me a little bit. I feel that Zallian should have stuck similarly to the novel.
When I first heard about the remake, I was annoyed but when I saw that David Fincher was directing it, I was a little less worried. Fincher have done it again, he has made a film that can entertain the audience and grips us the whole way through. The tone of the film makes me think back of his previous films like Alien 3 and Se7en, where the themes are dark and gloomy. Fincher feels like he understands Larsson's novel and the themes that fills it's pages. Just straight from the opening title sequence, it felt dark and twisted that you may feel a slight shiver or fear from it. The first half of the film involving Lisbeth and her guardian involves with themes of power, control and helplessness but Fincher cleverly uses it as a form of getting the audience to understand the abuse and powerlessness that comes with rape and sexual violence. This makes the resolution of the mystery of Harriet even more repulsive and twisted.
Fincher's direction captured the film's tone but that is also supported by the photography of Jeff Cronenweth. They both seem to have agreed to wash out a lot of the colour to give off a feeling of darkness and despair. Cronenweth captures this atmosphere of death that makes me feel uncomfortable, not that he did his job poorly but rather the feeling unpleasantness that I personally feel when I watch it. He captures key moments like the rape scenes in a way that appropriately induces a feeling of disgust in the rapist's action and yet at the same time captures the feeling of power and control that the antagonist is then feeling.
The film's score was not something I can deeply say I would remember later on but it does fit well with the mood that Fincher is trying to create. The opening title sequence though was played with a twist on the song 'Immigrant Song' and it felt incredible haunting when paired with the eerie imagery displayed.
I have recently seen the Swedish version of this film and so I had a predetermined idea of the look and feel of the characters. Casting both Craig and Mara was great, they both work well. As both protagonist play off each other, you do feel that there is a relationship between each other that is being built either professionally and personally. Mara seems to be dedicated to her role and has from time to time throughout the film reminded me a lot of Noomi Rapace's performance in the Swedish edition. The role played by Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd should have been casted by someone that is less well known, as soon he came on screen and has been identified by Henrik, I immediately knew he was going to be an important piece of Harriet's mystery. This does not mean that SkarsgÃ¥rd's performance was flawed but rather an issue of miscasting.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will be a film that I may not watch for a while due to the themes that I may find uncomfortable but will definitely someday, if in the mood, will immerse myself again as it is an excellently crafted mystery drama with wonderful performances and faithful direction.