I thought it was absolutely fantastic.

I had my doubts about Rooney Mara taking over the titular role of Lisbeth, even after her memorable turn in The Social Network last year, but she's an absolute revelation here and a huge part of the reason the film is so successful. It's a brave and incredibly risky performance - anyone who is familiar with the source material knows the terrible things the character encounters (and does) throughout the course of the story, and this is not shied away from at all in Fincher's adaptation. But Mara tackles it head-on and turns Lisbeth into a ticking time bomb of sorts that the audience can sympathize with. By the end, when her character turns to Mikael (Daniel Craig) and looks for approval to kill the central villain of the film, the audience is completely on her side. She 100 percent deserves a Best Actress nomination, and it won't happen, but a win as well.

The other performances are all also uniformly fantastic, and David Fincher has assembled a pretty perfect cast here. Daniel Craig is completely engaging, delivering one of his best performances. I also loved Joely Richardson and Stellan Skarsgard, who was terrifying.

Fincher's direction is impeccable yet again. The film starts with an opening credits sequence that is brilliant and perfectly sets the mood for what's to come (DO NOT show up late and miss this). Every shot is filled with even the smallest significant details and Fincher stages several elaborate sequences that are quite intense and unforgettable. In particular the climactic reveal of the killer and the proceeding torture sequence (all set eerily to an Enya song) are absolutely terrifying. Trent Reznor's score is brilliant and appropriate at all times - it makes the rape sequence even more intense and hard to watch.

I found this film a lot more successful in its adaptation than the Swedish version too because the relationship between Lisbeth and Mikael is more defined. It is clear here that Lisbeth sees Mikael as her savior of sorts - he is the only one that truly understands her and the first person she can feel fully comfortable around (exemplified by the "I made a friend you'd approve of" sequence with her former guardian). There are also many other changes that resemble the novel instead of the Swedish version, namely a major change to the end that works a lot better in context.

Despite the dark subject matter, this is a definite crowd-pleaser for adults (the same way that franchises like the Hannibal Lecter series and the Bourne films have retained momentum) and the ending perfectly sets up the next installment in the series while also allowing this film to serve as a standalone. This is one of the most entertaining films of the year and Rooney Mara's performance is not to be missed. A

I still have my doubts about Rooney Mara after seeing Noomi Rapace in the original trilogy even though I hear she's great in it. I wish Noomi could have played the role in the American versions as well. I think it will be difficult seeing someone else as Lisbeth. Still, I'm excited to see the film and what Fincher does with it. Did they tone the rape scenes down at all? I almost thought they would with the remake.

Absolutely not. If anything they're more intense.

And Mara is better than Rapace was.

It will be a while before I hear this song without thinking of this movie and the crazy scene it is in

Probably because Mara has a better script and filmmaker to work with. I bet Rapace would have been better in this remake than she was in the original . Or maybe not because she would have been bored of playing the same role .

So this is the opening credits?

No, it's similar but not identical.

I've heard the ending will divide people and I almost want to know why, yet I don't . I know it was changed from the original and I hope it's better for it.

Oh my. David Fincher took The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and basically gave the most faithful adaptation I could of asked for. First of all, Fincher is probably the only guy to do this film justice and he sure gave it a ton of justice. Also, the Swedish version was already shit and now looks shittier in comparison. The film grabs you from the start with some amazing opening graphics and then pulls you right into the story. One of the only flaws I had with the book was that it took a while for it to start but with the film it handles the opening material better and doesn't let it drag. The violence and horror is good ol' Fincher. The rape scenes in particular were even more haunting than I even imagined them to be when I read the novel last year. They changed up some things in the last half-hour but it works better than it did in the novel. Daniel Craig pulls in a solid performance as does Christopher Plummer. However, like its mysterious character Lisbeth does in the novel, Rooney Mara steals the show. Many were concerned that she wouldn't fit the part and also that the accent she came up with wouldn't work. She gets into the character so well though and it was quite gripping. Really, she should be a frontrunner for Best Actress and if Streep gets more votes for playing a less demanding role than it will be quite sad. Even though the film runs over two and a half hours it, like the novel as well, runs very smoothly and there is no drag at all. Also the editing I found to be probably the best all year. This is just an amazing piece of work. ****

I stopped reading after this.

I highly enjoyed the Swedish version, but this is leagues better.

The problem with the Swedish version is that it really took no risks or try to take the extra step in crucial scenes. It also took out key elements (such as the daughter's help) that Fincher realized needed to be in the film. Also the Swedish version's pacing is horrible.

Reading reviews now, everyone seems to be grading it lower because of the short span between the two versions which kind of pisses me off.

The Swedish version is kind of meh outside of Nomi.

Terrific, didn't feel long at all.

One problem I had was the change in the reveal... I read the book so I was sort of confused.

I personally liked it more.

Review: http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=553

I hear the dildo rape is toned down but hers isn't. Figures . Fincher must hate women .

Ridiculous conversation, but: if Fincher hated women, wouldn't he emphasize the pain of the dildo rape and thus position Lisbeth as a menacing figure? How does concentrating more on her might in the scene, claiming her life and destroying her attacker's power over her, and less on his asshole being torn asunder equal misogyny?

Because he doesn't want this character to get her brutal revenge .

I wasn't even being serious though.

Mike, go see the movie for yourself before talking about it like you know what to expect.

The scene with the rapist is brutal and intense, and handled perfectly.

Mara is wonderful. The score, cinematography and set pieces were great. At times it reached that level of captivation I wanted from a Fincher Dragon Tattoo movie. Other points were too remniscient of the Swedish version. Overall a good movie, but not one of Fincher's best by a longshot. I hope he doesn't waste his time with the sequels, it's not going to get any better than this.

B+

The film needed more Enya and Skarsgard.

I'm sure if I hadn't seen the Swedish version it would have more of an effect on more, but it really didn't outside the aforementioned Enya and Skarsgard. Mara is no Roomi (though I did think her facial expression in the last scene of the film was the best acting in the entire film), Craig is whatever, Plummer is Plummer.

It's the most boring looking of all Finchers digital films. Colors just blah, no real imagery. And while he certainly does pull some nice camera tricks, those moments are brief and just pass by without having any full impact. There's little drama or thrills in the entire film. It's just long.

Honestly, it's basically just the Swedish version in English and with better production value, a better villian, weaker lead female and male parts, and Enya. I didn't care for the first one and I don't care for this one that much either. I never plan on seeing this ever again except maybe the Enya scene.

Oh, and the opening credits is like a bad music video by some guy whos trying to be like David Fincher from the 1990s but failing.

And its a joke that this cost 125m. Fincher is horrible when it comes to budget (though he does admit this). This should have been 75m MAX.

Screw you. The opening credits are AMAZING. The whole movie is. It has a devastating impact and an icy beauty.

It's well-made sure. It's over 2.5 hours and I didn't want to fall asleep, which is an achievement. But I was happy when the end credits came on.