The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This movie was fantastic. I don't really know what else to say.

I was nervous and confused about Rooney Mara ever since I heard she had been cast and let me tell you, she was incredible. With the kinds of things she had to do in this film she really shined through it. I loved it because Mara was a little closer to the Lisbeth I got from the descriptions in the book. Noomi Rapace did great as well but I always perceived her as more passive and not as cold.

Daniel Craig gave Blomqvist an interesting contrast. He was serious and felt broken but at the heart of the character he was quite... nerdy? Him politely saying "goodbye" to Lisbeth's house guest was hilarious. His reaction to being shot at was a little quirky as well. It was a nice surprise. Although, I must say, Craig's accent annoyed the hell out of me. It went from being Swedish to an odd mixture of British and Swedish to flat out British at random. Very irritating. In comparison to Mara's flawless dialect it was real noticeable.

But overall I truly loved this film. It was, for me, closer to the book than the Swedish film was and certain parts were more intense. However, there was one major omission; Mikael didn't serve any jail time whatsoever. In the book he went to jail in the middle of his research and even in the Swedish version he went to jail. That disappointed me. I also felt like the actual research Mikael and Lisbeth did on Harriet wasn't as thorough as it should have been. Most of it felt a little rushed.

The musical score was incredible. I thought what Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did for The Social Network was good, but what they have done for TGWTDT is even better. I also loved the subtle Nine Inch Nails tribute in the movie. I'll wait and see if anyone else catches it.

9.5/10
Best movie I have seen in 2011. Hands down.