The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I went to see this film having heard nothing about it at all and another film I wanted to see wasn't on the Sunday matinée bill...so, this looked interesting...best 5 Euros I've spent in a long time. Very, very good thriller but NOT FOR CHILDREN and I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed it - well filmed and well acted by the main protagonists; I know nothing of Swedish actors but apparently Michael Nyqvist is well known and I thought Noomi Rapace was brilliant (a young, headstrong, tattooed and "talented" computer hacker Lisbeth Salander with a traumatized past) I thought the film was superbly directed (Niels Arden Oplev); I am already looking forward to the second film later this year AND I will go and buy the books...

Awesome Swedish film with a intelligent story. a journalist and a troubled young female hacker works together on resolving a 40 year old mystery involving a disappearance, murders, Nazis and one hell of a dysfunctional family. the storytelling by the director was great and captured my attention for almost 2,5 hours. the character buildup is thorough and makes a solid foundation for the rest of the film. in addition the characters are straightened by a superb cast played by Michael Nyqvist and especially Noomi Rapace. Camera work and the overall look of the film is astounding, especially on bluray. the movie takes you to it's locations and doesn't let go until the story is complete. a must see for those who likes an intriguing edge of your seat thriller.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been a worldwide phenomenon for a while now. In book form, the original film, and the Hollywood remake. It is a disturbing, yet riveting tale, as is the story behind the author who made it. While Fincher's version is visually and stylistically more striking, I feel this original Swedish film does a better job bringing the disturbing mystery to the silver screen. Structured much more fluidly than the Hollywood version, the mystery of a missing girl flows and develops slowly, dishing out red herrings and suspense with each turn (something lacking in the Fincher version). It also stays closer to the original title of the book (and theme) Men who Hate Women. In the end, this is a dark tale of what rape does to women and to the world. Not everyone's idea of 'entertainment,' but a thought-provoking mystery for those with strong stomachs.

I decided to go all-out and give myself the full Millennium experience by watching the TV miniseries (9 hours in total) over the space of three nights. As a result, these reviews are of the extended, three-hour editions of each film rather than the condensed, theatrical two-hour versions.

Wow. I loved it. I'm not a huge fan of the crime genre, and I haven't read the books, but THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is a difficult film to fault. It's a mature and mannered piece of film-making, dealing with adult and taboo themes and wrapping the reader up in a realistic and conscious mystery yarn.

Despite the slow pacing, the movie is thoroughly engaging. Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace are both excellent leads, bringing to life fully flesh and blood characters who engage the reader's sympathy and emotions throughout. The thriller aspects of the story are exciting and as a whole this is a mature and fully developed piece of work. Onto the next...

This film was very well-made with superb cinematography. The actors all portray their respective characters perfectly, although Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, Michael Nyqvist as Michael Blomkvist and Sven-Bertil Taube as Hanrik Vanger deserve a special mentioning. They are all very likable and believable.

The films story is very exciting and puzzling (for those that haven't read the book) and the pace is steady with some really tense situations. The investigation part of the story is excellent. Although it is 2.5 hours long it is never boring.

The soundtrack was also very fitting and helped to set the mood of the film. This is far above any other Scandinavian thriller production, and I look forward to the rest of the films/series.

I recommend it to anyone!