The "Feel Bad" Movie of Christmas -- Fincher delivers a gift to viewers

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2011)

December 22, 2011
Last night, I stopped by Patriot Place in Foxboro, MA to go see the highly anticipated "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," a second rendition of Stieg Larsson's international bestseller. Second to the much admired Swedish film, many critics were skeptical of whether or not an American remake would live up to Larsson's widely acclaimed trilogy. On a whole, the screenwriter, Stephen Zaillian, sticks pretty loyally to the book, and the director, David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en, Social Network) and cinematographer definitely outweigh the Swedish version in terms of artful rendering and skillful directing. While taking some liberties of leaving out minor details and plot lines, Zaillain fits in every important aspect and character in the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the film.
The opening sequence, with a cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song ("we come from the land of the ice and snow") by Trent Reznor and the vocals of Karen Oh, gives you the credits among abstract scenes of seemingly black oil-covered characters (Salander and Blomkvist) and creatures that vaguely touch upon the trilogy's titles: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
Rooney Mara was enthralling as Lisbeth Salander, a socially inept computer-hacker genius who works for a state of the art security company. Salander teams up with Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to track down a killer of women, after Blomkvist, a journalist for the fictional Swedish magazine Millennium, is sued for libel by corrupt billionaire Hans-Erik Wennerström. Mara portrays Salander a bit differently than the Swedish version's Noomi Rapace in that Mara captures her vulnerability while still being the kick ass, reclusive and disturbed, but still endearing heroine that we know and love (if you are a fan of the novels). Rapace gave off lots of raw energy in her performance as Lisbeth and did an equally wonderful job in portraying her. However, Mara's fragility shines through, so that Salander is not solely perceived as a bad-ass Goth biker chick, but a relatable and likable human being.
Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist also gives a solid performance, keeping true to Blomkvist's professionalism, while still remaining in his familiar acting style of James Bond: womanizer, mystery solver. He even holds his British accent true among other American actors, who speak English in a Swedish accent (Robin Wright as Erika Berger does this with flair). The chemistry between Craig and Mara is just as I pictured it between Blomkvist and Salander; her "puppy love" crush that is covered up as a fascination with him after doing a background investigation on his life and the Wennerström affair becomes a more mature friendship, a bond of respect and trust, that you see develop throughout the film. This was a prominent topic in the book, Blomkvist pointing out to Salander during a more intimate moment between them that "both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don't have trust, the friendship will crumble." However, Blomkvist is not a monogamous lover, as Salander must come to terms with in the final scene of the film.
The film also isn't afraid to be bold with the scenes of graphic rape, violence, and sex. Stieg Larsson's original Swedish name for the first book of the trilogy, "Män som hatar kvinnor," or "Men who hate women," is the theme of all three books in the series and therefore, any cinematic elements left out in terms of these scenes would deter from Larson's original purpose. Not only are the rape scenes graphic, but we get a glimpse of the serial murders in photos and descriptions. Finally, the sexuality between Blomkvist and Salander are also quite vivid, and again I believe this to be necessary after reading Larson's descriptions of their trysts.
The music, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Finch, also didn't fail in enticing each viewer into the suspense-filled, bone-chilling setting of northern Sweden, where the industrial tycoon Henrik Vanger takes you into his estate. Here he gives Blomkvist the tale of his family, mainly his long lost niece, Harriet, who he believes was murdered by one of his family members many years ago and now is being haunted by the murderer year after year with a framed flower on his birthday. Harriet used to give him a different and exotic framed flower each year up until the year she disappeared at 16 years old; over 40 years ago.
If you have read this trilogy and have a few spare hours, I recommend you go out and see this in the theater. The so-called "feel-bad movie of Christmas" will leave you with a satisfaction you won't get in a shopping mall this season.