Featuring an uncommonly sensational performance from Rooney Mara, David Fincher's take on "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" proves to be a cerebral, vicious and worthy addition to his repertoire overall.

Brutal, dark, intense, shocking, interesting, and enjoyable, these are just some of the words I would use to describe this movie, it's fantastic but not in the way you'd expect, honestly after watching this I was pretty surprised at what I just watched, let me just tell you this it's earned it's R rating, and that this is definitely one you don't want to end up in the hands of a kid, the plot is enjoyable, it has a fantastic soundtrack, and Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara both deliver outstanding and exceptional performances, Rooney Mara's performance as Lisabeth in particular was phenomenal, she made her character come to life and made me want to learn everything about Lisabeth, and I hope they make the sequels just so I can, it's an outstanding, intense, and fantastic movie experience that I highly recommend, just be sure your ready for it first.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have special love for the original Swedish version which I listed as my fourth favorite film of 2010. If that movie didn't exist, I may have very different feelings about this one - for good AND for bad. Rooney Mara is terrific in this role, but I don't think she's necessarily better than Noomi. Noomi had that smoldering, caged heat feeling about her. It was more of a masculine slow burn, whereas Rooney is much more feminine, and her character is a bit less focused. Both are solid in their roles, but I think I prefer Noomi's take on it. The Swedish version focuses much more on the the mystery of Harriet's death, and it's much more process-oriented, which I preferred. The Fincher film glosses over much of the detail of that investigation ,and I feel that if I hadn't seen the original, I might have been a bit lost with regard to the family tree, the unlocking of the old photographs, and the tic toc on the day of the car crash on the bridge. I also liked the original's resolution of the murder mystery storyline much more, with Harriet coming back from Australia - the acting and the sense of relief was palpable and enormously satisfying. Comparatively I didn't feel that Christopher Plummer cared nearly as much to see her. Now, on the other hand, the "theft" sequence with Mara draining bank accounts and her subsequent show of real love for Bloomquist at the end was much more fleshed out - and to a more satisfying degree - in the Fincher film. The bottom line for me is that there's nothing like the first time, and this film simply didn't stack up to the power of original which really did cut like a knife. To me, it's a classic. To compare these two to another pair of films - I loved Let The Right One One, the Swedish original, but Let Me In, the American version, stacked up very well against it. It brought something special to the story - perhaps more so than than Fincher's Dragon Tattoo does. ALL this being said, I certainly was entertained by Fincher's movie and recommend it.… Expand

If you've seen the original Swedish version, there's not much new here. If you haven't, this is the American-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel about a journalist (Daniel Craig) and his unusual assistant (Rooney Mara). He's hired by a wealthy old man to solve the mystery of his missing granddaughter, but discovers a series of brutal murders. Meanwhile, she's got her own problems, when she's enlisted to help him on his search. This film, which runs 2:38, unfolds with a slow anxiety, but never really manages much tension. Even the violent scenes are underplayed. Perhaps it's that cold Swedish outlook. The musical score is often pervasive and occasionally in the way. Director David Fincher has crafted a compelling, but slightly-confusing film.… Expand

I liked it. Solid performances by the cast. It was an interesting mystery that was nice to see unfold. I think the huge flaw of the movie is that it was a bit too long for my taste. Other than that, It was good.

Does the international sensation The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo live up to all the hype? In my estimation, no! There is no denying that the story is amazing. The book may be amazing, and the original Swedish version of the film might be equally amazing, but David Fincher's adaptation of it is not. From the very beginning it seems as thou he's trying to turn this story into something it's not, a sequel to Seven. The story is fantastic, however, there are so many odd names and so many mumbled lines thrown at you so quickly, that you're easily confused. At many points in this film I was confused, and even when the killer was revealed, my reaction was "which one is that?" Besides being confusing, the film has about an hour of footage that has nothing to do with the main story and just adds to the overall confusion of the film. Like I said, the story is really good, the actors were really good also, but the film was just very long and confusing, and to be honest, I really wasn't all that impressed by it.… Expand

As much as I adored the first, Swedish adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel, I was intrigued, for once, by a big-budget Hollywood remake as soon as David Fincher was announced as director. A jet-black murder-mystery which analyses the darker aspects of human nature seemed the perfect project for the director of Fight Club and Zodiac to helm. In a lot of ways, Fincher doesn't disappoint. Like all his films, it looks great, flows well and keeps you engaged throughout. Rooney Mara is quite captivating as the new Lisbeth Salander, and smartly has a different interpretation of the character from the acclaimed performance of Noomi Rapace. Stellan Skarsgard and Christopher Plummer also impress as Henrik and Martin Vanger respectively, both either equalling or improving on the performances of their Swedish film counterparts Sven-Bertil Taube and Peter Haber. The rest of the cast are decent enough, apart from one extreme disappointment - Daniel Craig. He doesn't give a particularly bad performance as such, but is completely miscast as Mikael Blomkvist. Blomkvist should be an everyman - someone you wouldn't look twice at in the street, someone who's perhaps put on the pounds in recent years as he approaches middle age. You should not cast an international sex symbol as such a character, and the notion that Daniel Craig "gained weight" for the role is laughable - he still looks too lean and Bondlike to portray a slightly-past-his-prime journalist. There are some truly stunning sequences in the film, particularly the opening titles with accompanying cover version of Led Zepplin's 'Immigrant Song', which resembles a strange hybrid of a James Bond title sequence and a Marilyn Manson video, and sets the right tone for the film. The shots of the arctic Swedish landscapes are also stunning, and credit must be given to cinematographers Jeff Cronenweth and Fredrik Backar for complete mastery of their art. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross deliver another great soundtrack in their second collaboration with Fincher - their eerie, dark, electronica-driven music is perfect to reflect the personalities and state of mind of the numerous fractured, tortured souls we follow throughout the film. Also worth noting is a very unexpected and very clever use of Enya's Orinoco Flow in a key scene in the film - I won't spoil it for you, but suffice to say, the result is one of the funniest, yet most utterly terrifying film horror moments in recent memory.
Unfortunately, despite all the undeniable talent on display, the result of this story getting the Hollywood treatment (something I truly hoped would be avoided) is it has been over-sentimentalised. The main body of the story is as dark, and in some cases darker than the original film, but as soon as the main plot has been wrapped up, Fincher unashamedly tags a slushy, romantic resolution onto the story. I liked the ambiguous ending of the original film - why, oh why, David, did you think it was necessary for Lisbeth to become open about her emotions? She's a deeply complex, damaged and disturbed individual who'll likely never be able to lead a normal life, yet you've completely bypassed that fact and shattered the illusion with a rather incongruous finale that wouldn't look out of place in a Richard Curtis movie. David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is good entertainment - dark, engaging and with some great performances, but the miscasting of Daniel Craig and some fundamental misjudgements in tone do ruin the magic a little. At the end of the day, it just isn't in the same league as Niels Arden Oplev's delightfully macabre original adaptation. Perhaps in the inevitable sequels, some of these issues can be addressed and improved upon, and I look forward to more of Rooney Mara's punky reinterpretation of Lisbeth, though sadly now we're stuck with Daniel Craig's simply wrong "Bond-kvist" for another two installments.… Expand

I loved it! I personally liked it a lot more than the Swedish version (both are brilliant films). A little long. Rooney Mara is brilliant, we'll be hearing about her in the future. The opening credits are super stylish and epic.

Not even Fincher with admittedly inspiring casting, and an impressive list of nail biting movies such as "Seven," "Fight Club" and "Zodiac", was able to emulate the edge of the Swedish original film which in turn could not compare with the depth of the original material in the book. And although Craig, in contrast with Nyqvist in the original film, brings extra umpf with the surplus of erotic charisma needed to unfold the book's main character, it is the other way around between Mara and Rapace who steals the show in the Swedish version with her unflinching raw performance of one of the most complex characters on the silver screen to date.… Expand

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a really great thriller with good central performances. It has just the right amount of creepiness to give it that nerve-wrangling edge. It isn't quite perfect, however. It's overlong and has a far too many subplots (probably set ups for the sequel). That said, the meat of the movie is fantastic... It just needed a little bit more of the fat cut off.

If the scene of the opening credits already affirms that it will be a heavy dip in a violent world, covered with dense blackness and incendiary, what follows is an attempt to reveal this evil once hidden behind the power and the many untruths that people from the story are trying to impose itself. The corrupt businessman to the meticulous killer, maybe even beyond that. The great ambition of the film is pervaded all these facts by the figure that resonates with insane intensity of credits lost in the narrative development, Lisbeth Salander cultivates in her "inability to live socially" - which the state condemns a hallucinatory force in her proper strangeness of being. Her impenetrability marks the film, or perhaps the latter is molded to it.

And it is in the journalistic curiosity that Mikael and Lisbeth in the particular vehemence that the entire film unfolds, not only the desire of Blomkvist to uncover the truth and try to prove to himself that after all is still a work in a universe capable unfair, but also a woman afflicted with many cruelties, far from innocent, but that is the search for a killer of women the desire to exterminate this scum of men who mistreated, echoing ghosts of Christmases past that the film does not reveal, but it suggests. Salander is the driving force that has long, affecting Mikael and the rising tension, which grows, in an investigation of a past that resonates even today.

David Fincher here is in the same technical finesse of Social Network", but quite superior to echo the masterpiece of director who is "Zodiac." He is able to develop his work respecting the genius of suspense that Stieg Larsson writes in the text at the same time deepens the personalities of his intriguing characters, from a family background that exudes decadent bitterness, wickedness and misogyny that characterize the protagonists to be precisely to the contrary, whether feminism is a transgressor of Lisbeth or the breakup of this family structure represented by Mikael, all enrolled in a theatre now conscious and well thought out.… Expand

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The whole point of making the film for English audiences is so we can watch the movie with people speaking English. So what do they do? Make all the actors have a thick accent and mumble the lines so they are hard to understand. I would say I missed about 20% of the dialogue due to poor enunciation and bad recording, not to mention the irritating loud electronic soundtrack which drowns out some of the dialogue as well. There is a large cast of characters and it is important to hear what they are saying so you can keep up with the story. Still, the acting was good to great (Rooney Mara is especially noteworthy) and the story was good. I felt it was one of those never-ending movies, where you think it's over but it continues on. Overall a solid movie, but not as good as others in the genre such as Silence of the Lambs.… Expand

Fincher is once again brilliant and his films still remain an event. Rooney mara's performance also is on the line of perfection. I am excited for his next film.

David Fincher did his lurid best. See this English adaptation with fresh look. Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander is different with Noomi Rapace's. And also the movie, although a drawback but it's different air. Not Fincher's best work but it also great in every level.

David Fincher never fails me, even including the underwhelming THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008) (which I think I seriously need a re-watch), the American remake of THWTDT is as excellent as its Swedish archetype if not excels in every aspect. Karen Oâ

David Fincher definitely kept his charm on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . Its an amazing mystery film that I was waiting so long. Amazing screenplay and amazing directing . Daniel Craig was really good at his role . Rooney Mara definitely pulled off her emo look and her acting was her best (undoubtedly ). Filming location was in one word AMAZING . It was perfect for the film . It was Snowy , Dark , Cold , The three best weather for an amazing mystery .
So much looking forward to see a Sequel . Sony said they will be filmed back to back and I wish they would release those the same way.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have not read the books, nor have I seen the original version of the movie. Therefore, some of my pet peeves about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may lie somewhere in the story itself rather than the editing. Don't get me wrong. The movie is great. I immensely look forward to sequels. Rooney Mara's performance alone is enough to want to see the series continue. The entire cast is fantastic, but what seemed to bug me most during the movie is the extended amount of time spent on some elements of the story, like her being a ward of the state, but how much time wasn't spent on explaining the backstory re: Daniel Craig's lawsuit and relationship with Robin Penn. A lot effort was spent building up the need for Christopher Plummer to hire Daniel Craig to solve this mystery, yet very little into connecting Craig and Mara together. For someone so unsociable, she unnaturally connected quickly with Craig. Then, when it was all said and done, the story seemed to wrap up too quickly as compared to the build up. So, while the story was good, the directing was good and the cast was good, the piecing together of the film itself seemed haphazardly done. Was this editing? Was it the story itself? At 2:34 long, I would have expected a better flow, but nonetheless, my high expectations were met and I look forward to more.… Expand

De la part de David Fincher, réalisateur de Se7en, j'en attendais beaucoup de ce remake américain et seconde adaptation de l'oeuvre de Stieg Larsson, à commencer par un travail soigné au niveau de l'atmosphère. L'envie de voir un véritable chef-d'oeuvre qui s'est confirmée dès le (sublime) générique de début, ce dernier nous mettant immédiatement dans l'ambiance. D'accord, il n'y a pas trop de prises de risques, du fait que l'ensemble reste fidèle à l'esprit du livre. Mais ce remake se montre bien plus imposant que son prédécesseur suédo-danois. Il faut dire que le casting est de qualité, au point qu'on laisse de côté les acteurs originaux (Rooney Mara remplaçant sans mal la pourtant excellente Noomi Rapace); que l'ambiance du film est au-delà de mes espérances car étant prenante, dérangeante et palpitante (grâce aux effets sonores et à la BO); que le scénario est légèrement différent (question détails); et que l'on ne s'ennuit pas une seule seconde pendant 2h38. Bref, une réussite!… Expand

This is an engagind movie, yet, that is all it is. I heard so much about it! I thought it would be original and gripping, not just a fun, 'refined' cliche but what I found was that even though it has good elements, The Girls With the Dragon Tattoo is still little more than an average movie. This film recurs to stereotypical situations and characters to create tension. They are well developed but the movie lacks depth. Still, I enjoyed it so I went and rented the 2nd and 3rd sequels They were bad! Truly disappointing...Boring!. This one at least, has a defined plot and keeps the suspense until the end.… Expand

from Kate Winslet in "The Reader" did not see nudity as explicit and worked. Rooney Mara endorsed this film where there is also praise for the editing and sound fabulous.

Why did I watch it?
I am a massive fan of Steig Larsson's series of books so I was keen to see Hollywood's take on the story. I've haven't seen the original Swedish versions of the films yet.

What's it all about?
Based on the book of the same name and set in Sweden, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tells the story of disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) and extrovert freelance researcher Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) investigate the disappearance of teenager Harriet Vanger decades earlier. As the pair attempt to hunt down the murderer they become entangled in an estranged family with shady history.

Should you watch it?
TGWTDT is essentially a cold case whodunit but what sets the story apart is not the complexity of the wealthy Vanger family and their whereabouts on that day but the characters investigating the mystery. Blomkvist is fresh from losing a libel lawsuit and accepts the case as a sabbatical from work while Lisbeth Salander is now probably one of the most iconic female characters of recent times. A gifted researcher and computer hacker under state guardianship due to a chequered adolescence, Salander only enters the story in its main sense half way through. The first half introduces her character's issues, her initiative and resolve in the face of difficulty. Despite being a whodunit, as the title suggests, the story is really about Salander.

I enjoyed the US film version and thought David Fincher managed to do the book justice squeezing just enough detail from the book into the two and half hours without compromising some of the more extreme scenes. I was concerned that some of the complexity of the various generations of the Vanger family would be lost in the translation from book to film but Fincher managed to explain this carefully enough with visual aids for it to get across to the audience.

The faults with the film are similar to the book in that the postscript ending seems just as tagged onto the end but this is a small gripe and it rests with Larsson's decision to set up the next instalment here. Rooney Mara is excellent as Salander, and the production team did a great job designing her appearance true to the story.… Expand

Wonderful movie by one of the best directors of this generation. I especially enjoyed the intro. And to everyone saying how it's a remake I am pretty sure you are wrong. Yes I've seen the foreign one but I think this is simply the american interpretation of the book rather than a remake of the foreign film.

Stylish, Intense and interesting. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an excellent film made by very talented film makers. Although there were a few things that were missing from the original, I found this version more enjoyable and entertaining and many important aspects of the film were explored deeper. The central character of Lisbeth is a fleshed out more and I felt I got to know the character better. The pay off to the intense scenes are also more rewarding. Perhaps the movie went 15minutes too long but it didn't worry me too much as I enjoyed the character so much. Be prepared for some intense graphic scenes but there is a point to it all. Recommended.… Expand

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a pretty good remake and it's a bit different from the original movie, but it still holds up pretty more. The story takes place were these two people must find a missing teenage girl by the old rich guy. It's a pretty good story and it's very shocking that every scene were Fincher takes a dark chill since he did in Seven and Panic Room. The characters are good including Daniel Craig was a right choice to be a cool detective and Rooney Mara did a fine job as a goth girl with the styling dragon tattoo (that's what they called for the title). The girl is very mysterious, smart, dark, clever, and sometimes I really enjoy were she acts like she's involve for the situation that she needs to concentrate for the mission along with the detective. The remake is good and Fincher did very well from the original that it's similar to the three based on the series that people might sink into.… Expand

There is no need to see this film if you have already seen the original film. The changes made do not justify sitting through 2 hours and 40 minutes of mostly dead frame that you know what is coming up. If you have not seen the original films, then I recommend going but be prepared for a film that is at least 40 minutes too long. After an hour and a half, I was looking at my watch. Fincher did nothing to improve upon the original except to wrap everything up quickly at the end. Once Plummer disappeared. the pace really slowed and so did my hopes.… Expand

I've seen both the original & this remake and I have to say that although Fincher's version obviously looks better, has better production design and values and cool soundscapes by NIN they both have a very similar feel and it's probably a matter of personal taste which one you prefer. But if you have seen one you don't real need to see the other.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo of Fincher was doomed from the beginning to be compare with the Swedish version. The problem is that after this comparison the American production was totally degraded. Although the story is very attractive and scary, this is not a point for this movie, because there other one has it too; then we have the plot, here the development of the actions happen in a darker atmosphere, but everything is less emotional and more carnal than the film of Niels Arden Oplev; in other words this picture is the Hollywood alter ego. And as an ultra-commercial movie have parts left over, which were shown implicit by the Swedish one (an extraordinary film is the one in which the viewer has to interpret or deduce some parts of the plot). Finally we have the contrast of the protagonists: Daniel Craig gives a weak performance, the one of Michael Nyqvist is a lot more convincing as Blomkvist. About Lisbeth Salander, which is a much more difficult role, I think Rooney Mara capture it more than Noomi Rapace, and that interpretation pulls this movie up.… Expand