Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

There are a select few movie directors who, when I see his name attached to a film, immediately strike my interest: Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan are up there, and with a recent strong run of movies, so is David Fincher. If you'll think back, Fincher is responsible for outstanding efforts like Se7en, Fight Club, and The Social Network, among others. (Those others include The Game, but I'm not here to criticize.)

Naturally, given the director's track record and its cool-looking concept and promos, I was excited to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the English-language adaptation of Steig Larsson's 2005 crime thriller. It absolutely did not disappoint.

The film's atmosphere was quite a bit like that of the excellent Social Network, perhaps a bit surprisingly given the disparate nature of their respective subject matter. The cinematography here has a starker, colder feel (try finding a bright color), appropriate to a whodunit set in northern Sweden, but the score by NIN's Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (the team who composed the music for The Social Network) lends it the same edge and is even more effective here. You can almost feel the chills that the characters feel, both from the frigid setting and the unsettling nature of the crimes.

The basic story centers on journalist Mikael Blomqvist (Daniel Craig in a smartly understated performance), co-publisher of Millennium magazine who has been recently convicted for libeling a powerful (and obviously corrupt) Swedish executive. As a sort of self-exile and also a way to make a living, Blomqvist accepts a detective assignment in the north of the country, where the various eccentric, wealthy industrialists of the Vanger family reside in an isolated compound. Under the pretense of writing a family biography, Blomqvist is hired by the Vanger patriarch Henrik to investigate the disappearance of his niece Harriet some 40 years ago. In return, Blomqvist is promised a stipend and information that will allow him to take down the nefarious character against whom he lost the libel suit. Given the remote nature of the location, all of the strange members of the Vanger clan are of course suspects, heightening the film's tension as Blomqvist takes up residence in a chilly cottage on the compound. At its core, the film is simply a very well-constructed and presented mystery.

Ah, but what of the titular girl with the dragon tattoo? That would be Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), an absolutely fascinating character. Tough, asocial, and an extremely talented private detective, the young Salander fiercely individual and independent yet nevertheless is a ward of the state, for mental health reasons. We learn that Salander was originally hired by the elder Vanger to perform a background check on Blomqvist. Impressed by Salander's thorough work investigating him, Blomqvist hires Salander as a research assistant for the Vanger project. Interested personally in the nature of the crimes, Salander agrees, and the second half of the film follows them as they unravel the mystery that has eluded many others over the years. The conclusion is as unsettling as it is exciting; once unmasked, the villain will weird you out.

The most important aspect of this movie, what makes it great, is Mara Rooney as Lisbeth - without her remarkable performance, the movie simply wouldn't work. Rooney deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for the role - she'll probably lose to Meryl Streep because of the Academy's obsession with Streep, but still. She's inscrutable, quiet, deadly, troubled, intense, aggressive, vengeful (rightfully so), and focused - just an amazing on-screen creation. Even with all she's been through, and as cold and anti-social as she can be, Rooney manages to let just enough rays of light out from Salander's rough exterior to humanize her.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the kind of movie I go to the movies hoping to see - intense, thrilling, and impeccably crafted. I didn't once thikn of the time over the film's generous 160 minutes. This one will absolutely be in the conversation when I write up my best-of for 2012.

4.5 stars