Entertainment

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

Photo: Contributed - Columbia Pictures

‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ Review by Kathrine Gountas
Rating: 4.5 out 5

The opening sequence to David Fincher’s version of ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ almost reminded me of a James Bond film (I’m sure Fincher intended no pun)!

The sequence, backed by the updated version of the ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin with Trent Reznor and the voice of Karen O of the ‘Yeah Yeah Yeahs’, shows a sort of montage of images that include cables, some lips, eyelashes, eyeballs, a match flying through the air and a face covered in an oil like substance which we can clearly see as that of the main character of the film, Lisbeth Salander (or rather that of actress Rooney Mara). 

If you have seen the original series starring Noomi Repace (Recently seen in ‘Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows’) as the title character, I’m going to try and not compare the two for those who haven’t. 

‘Dragon’ is the first in a three part series adapted to the screen from a trilogy of books written by Stieg Larsson entitled ‘The Millennium Series’. 

We are first introduced to Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), an investigative journalist who has been discredited and sued for publishing misinformation, or at least not being able to prove the information that he’s written.  Salander enters the picture when she is commissioned to do a background check on Blomkvist for a businessman, Henrik Venger (Christopher Plummer) who wants to hire Blomkvist to investigate the disappearance and possible murder of his niece Harriet almost 40 years ago. 

When the investigation begins to become a little convoluted for Blomkvist, he asks to hire an assistant researcher to help him.  Salander is talked into taking the job when Blomkvist finds out about her in-depth background check on him.

As the two dig further into the family history, they discover a series of murders that happen to coincide with a journal left by Harriet and begin to realize that the family has far more skeletons in the closet than originally thought. 

Mara’s interpretation of the character of Lisbeth Salander is quite similar to that of the original Swedish film, except you see a bit more emotional depth from Mara not seen before in her acting, and throws herself completely into the role (In ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, her character was quite blank - which I found was also the case in her short but pivotal scene in ‘Social Network’, also from Fincher). 

Craig is wonderful as Blomkvist, however I was never really expecting anything less from him.  Both actors played off each other quite well, even though they don’t meet until halfway into the movie.

Fincher doesn’t give as much away about the character of Salander, as he wants the audience to come back for the second and third future films.  For a better understanding, watch the Swedish version (or read the book).

Even though the film is quite long - about two and half hours - I never once felt like it was dragging along or that I was waiting for something to happen.  The mystery unfolds itself into a lovely dramatic thriller, even if you already know what’s about to happen. 

To see the video for the opening sequence, which was released a few weeks ago to go along with the song, click here!