Not the best of Fincher's work but a damn good one nevertheless.

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2012)

Tense atmosphere, lucid locale, intriguing premise and a breakneck speed defines this latest movie from David Fincher. Have not seen the original but loved every bit of this. Rooney Mara literally blew me off considering what she looked like and how she presented herself in the previous Fincher's flick 'The Social Network'. Such thrillers are hard to come by these days (mostly because each time the plot cannot be set to remote locations with limited access to technology or make them periodical).
Daniel Craig (Mikael) is an investigative journalist who just lost a case of defamation on whom he wrote an inconclusive article. On the verge of being bankrupt, he gets an offer to write a biography of a wealthy patriarch in his twilight years and most of his life was influenced by the disappearance of his niece 40 years ago. Once he smells malice in the story, he recruits a malnourished, abused but a brilliant computer expert to help him solve the case.
My synopsis adds nothing to what you already do not know and barely scratches the surface of its plot. The story comprises of an assortment of interesting and sketchy characters and the treatment is of orthodox whodunit style. The scripts invests a lot on ideologies of its principle characters which finally justifies what they do when they do it. The director though an expert in this genre considering Se7en and Zodiac does an excellent job here too placing more emphasis on the setup and atmosphere than the actual thrills which works wonders but I don't think he outdid his earlier mentioned work. Rooney Mara steals the show with her portrayal of a person who is difficult to be accepted by the society and leaves a lump in your heart while portraying her fate with subtlety towards the end. Background score is apt and cinematography is dreamy. The movie also boasts excellent production values in presenting the very short periodic aspect of the movie.
Not the best of Fincher's work but a damn good one nevertheless.