Rather less than the sum of its parts

Rating: 6/10 (27 March 2012)

I've not read the book or seen the original Swedish film, but I'm more than willing to go to the cinema to see a new David Fincher film... more often than not, his films have impeccable cinematography and sound design. These are both present in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but, as a film, I found it underwhelming and verging on genre silliness. The film it reminded me of the most is the Charles Bronson vigilante drama Death Wish... here, our lead actress (who plays an unknowable, almost Bronson-like cypher) is violated and seeks revenge. The violation is nasty, fetishised and dwelled upon by the filmmakers for too long, and the revenge is comic book and simplistic.
This 'cause then consequence' narrative structure continues throughout the film - it's very formulaic. The plot about dark family secrets is rather stodgy, although it would like to be edgy, like the Danish dogme melodrama Festen. There is excruciatingly awful dialogue in the sex scene between Daniel Craig and The Girl, the climactic action scene underwhelms on a genre level, and the long, drawn out coda had people in the cinema heading for the exit early.