THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO : archive from 13th January 2012.

I saw 'THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO' last night on opening night. From the very impressive opening titles sequence you know this is Hollywood and David Fincher all over. You would have to wonder why though would Fincher retell this story just two years after the European original came out Directed by Niels Arden Oplev making Noomi Rapace almost a household name and propelling her career ever northward - together with that of Michael Nyqvist too it must be said. In their respective performances as Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomkvist respectively, they made their roles their own well and truly, but the three originals combined made just US$215M whereas Fincher's alone made US$232M . . . I guess that's why in the final analysis, and proof positive for the studio that backed it!

It must be said that Fincher has done a good job at retelling this blockbuster story again with Daniel Craig passing in a solid performance as Blomkvist (and as far removed from Bond as you could possibly get) and Rooney Mara as Salander playing it more youthful especially early on when she is having all manner of shit thrown at her, but when retribution comes knockin' she is confident, astute, brutal and very much a woman in control of her emotions.

There is a strong support cast here too (which would account for the US$90M budget) including Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger - the man who hires Blomqvist to investigate the disappearance 40 years ago of his young niece whilst not discounting the "thieves, misers, bullies - the most detestable collection of people you will ever meet . . . my family"! There is Stellan Skarsgard as Martin Vanger, Joely Richardson as Anita Vanger, Robin Wright as Erika Berger, Steven Berkoff, Goran Visnjic and Geraldine James amongst others all adding weight to the supporting cast.

You know the story and quite possibly have seen it before in the earlier rendition of this Stieg Larson's highly acclaimed first book in this 'Millennium' series. As such there are no surprises here, but it is well shot, well executed and moves along just fine - and, we know that David Fincher has a strong pedigree for hard nosed thrillers of this type

A strong cast backs up the story well but I did feel that Noomi Rapace made Salander her own and was edgier, grittier, and more determined than Mara proved to be, although she settles in well as the tattooed new age punk cyber hacker as the film progresses. This film won the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Film Editing and was nominated in the Best Actress in a Leading Role, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing categories. It also picked up two Golden Globe nominations and two BAFTA nominations with a total haul of 29 award wins and 67 other nominations.

Certainly well worth your ticket price, but Fincher just fails to pull anything different out of the bag in a story that has already been very well executed and you know what's coming. I'm still left asking 'why'? You be the judge!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-