Plummer is always fantastic.

It took a while to get into this one as I'd already seen the original. Was a little bored at first. But it got great and I liked some of the changes made from the Swedish version (loved the ending), though I disliked a couple too (such as there not being a flashback of a young Lisbeth starting her father on fire, and I found it ridiculous the villain's car blew up as she's walking towards it versus her just letting him die like in the original). It's certainly a handsomely made picture and Rooney Mara is fantastic, though not better than Rapace. They are equal, IMO. With the same script Rapace could have given the same performance. Still, Mara is better than I could have ever expected.

It did feel a bit overlong (was originally going to take my parents to it as well but I don't think I would want to sit through this again in theaters) and too convoluted (I also thought the same of the original trilogy but it felt even more so here), but it's still on par with the original, maybe even a hair better. If I had only seen this version I may have been blown away.

A-

I enjoyed the more subtle, intimate revelation of her history (setting her father on fire) vs. a big fiery flashback. Plus, there's still room in the sequel if they choose to show the incident.

IMO, Mara brings a lot more vulnerability to the role. Rapace was terrific, but in a more purely badass, Trinity-in-The-Matrix way. Mara hits those notes, but also infuses them with sadness and skewed innocence.

Liked it a lot

I loved it much more the second time around. After viewing the Swedish version again before seeing this I can now say hands down the remake is the superior film and that Rooney Mara is indeed better than the also great Noomi Rapace. It certainly helps that the remake has a much bigger budget to work with. And oddly enough I was more engaged this time around.

Bumping my rating to an A.

Massive disappointment. Came off as a flat and lifeless thriller front to back. Maybe it was seeing the original first that made the plot and mystery so uninteresting this time - But moreso, Fincher just does a piss poor job making any of the family suspects on the grounds except Skarsgaard even register in the movie. Does the bitch mom even have a scene outside of the hospital ether? And when he talked to one of the nazi brothers of Harry, I frankly had no idea who his kids were

The whole thing just felt poorly edited to me, it could've easily been 1 hr 50 if not for the obvious fact that Fincher had to include all the scenes from the original movie. The whole bit with Lizbeth donning her blonde wig and emptying out Hans' bank account came off as extremely sloppy to me. Poorly explained, poor reasoning for it (guy was already dead guilty), etc. I don't think Fincher includes that scene if he doesn't have to. In general the fat after the car crash climax is Return of the King esque

As a whole I simply did not care for 90% of the plot or characters in this. Nothing about it rang a single bell of my emotions or anticipation. It's watchable because Craig and Mara are excellent and Fincher occasionally has flashes of brilliance (like the last scene). Otherwise it's just there.

C

Poor reasoning? She is emptying his banbk accounts to keep the money for herself and become rich and not be dependent on anyone...what kind of reasoning do you need there, really?

Well, I wasnt sure if that was the motive or if she was trying to just further tighten the noose on Hans

I purposely skipped seeing the original or reading the book so I could see David Fincher's film without any baggage... And it was decent, but unmemorable. I definitely agree that the ending felt very perfunctory and like set-up for the sequel more than an organic conclusion. The opening credits were definitely the best part, and while individual scenes pop and all the technical aspects are every bit as polished and professional as one would expect, the lack of meat and cohesion to the larger narrative makes this feel like a minor work in Fincher's oeuvre.

This version slicker, neater, easier to follow than the Sweedish version. It's also a little less... gritty? disconcerting? It's still freaky and dark but just feels a little more neutral, but the ending was better and dragged less to me. I didn't love Mara, I kept thinking she was very nice and believable, but more simple and less intense than Rapace. Not to just compare the two, but they are the same film with some very distinct artistic differences, except not that much. I mean obviously Fincher's version has better techs, excellent cinematography a better, tighter editing job, but also more slicked over hollywood in some ways. Ugh, I like it more on the whole but there are problems. Fincher always has problems to me when he's doing fincher, social network is his most flawless effort. I think it certainly deserves the best picture nomination that ridiculous post 9/11 Daldry flick stole. I wanna watch it again, but there's nothing that particularly stands out to me, even Mara's performance, which isn't what I said about the Sweedish version.

yeah this film is still meh.

and more Enya was seriously needed. If he had played Enya throughout the chase sequence, up until the car explosion, I'd have called it a masterpiece.

I assume you've read this by now?

http://badassdigest.com/2011/12/28/the- ... noco-flow/

nope. i kind of hate Devin so the fact that he agrees with me is somewhat upsetting but whatever.

7/10 -> B-

Before watching this movie I decided to read the damn book. It was hyped for years, then came the Swedish trilogy of films (which I haven't seen, but plan to eventually) so I thought to check out the source of it - the books themselves. And The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a pretty good crime novel. First of all I have to say that the original title Men Who Hate Women is such a perfect name for the book that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo looks pale and completely misrepresents it as Lisbeth isn't really a main character. I actually felt like Mikael was the main protagonist, but whatever.

So after being satisfied with the novel itself I expected to genuinely love what Fincher made on screen. He has nearly an impeccable track record and after he made one of the best thrillers in recent years out of a Facebook movie with a good material like this there was no way he would miss, right? But he proved me wrong. While not a bad movie, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo takes a somewhat baffling way to adapt the book. It cuts so many interesting events around the mystery that the basic plot could be solved by Nick Knatterton in one of his 7-8 minute cartoon shows. While every frame is beautiful, there's way too many sweeping and lingering shots which don't help this movie's pace.

I also expected more gore and sex. Compared to the book the movie easily gets a G rating.

Craig and Mara are good in their roles. As I've already said the cinematography is great as are other technical aspects (are Reznor and Ross becoming to Fincher what Williams is to Spielberg?).

Overall a good movie, but not as good as it should've been based on the material and the people involved.

B

For me, the original is superior. I felt the acting is on par with the original, but the story falls short. It does run a little long, and I didn't like some of the changes made. In particular, the Lisbeth flashback. I also didn't dig the slick, neat feel Fincher went with. I certainly prefer the gritty, rough, gothic tone of the original.

The rape scene seemed more graphic and disturbing in the original as well.