A Review Of Fincher’s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – The One Where I Owe Sweden An Apology

Urgh. I need to eat me some humble pie. Long story short: I love filmed the Swedish original, and my wife happened to be in the room. A vicious rape scene later, followed by another, and I naively dismissed the Millennium Trilogy. I didn’t even bother with the sequels. I suppose, in hindsight, if anything was going to make me change my mind, it was a David Fincher remake.

There are problems for me still with the film, and story as a whole.

A botched shooting late in the film, is just dismissed. Never even addressed again.

A feline mystery is never mentioned again.

Both elements that lead to the conclusion, and as a result, it all feels a bit rushed… Yes. Even at Two hours, twenty minutes. Credit where it’s due, though, as I found myself price matching the Extended Editions of the originals. There is no doubt in my mind, they would pad that sort of scene out. And now, the Millennium Trilogy “has me“.

I found myself totally engrossed. On the back of a crazy few days at work, when the films finish time pushed it past my normal bedtime, I was still alert. Still wide awake. And there are a number of factors as to why that was.

Firstly, the acting is sensational. Daniel Craig, seemingly the only one not bothering with an accent, is brilliant. Next to Munich, its my favourite Craig performance. He’s still ripped, and spends more time in his pants than he does in Casino Royale, but he plays the part perfectly. You could question his physique for a day-to-day journalist. It’s very “Hollywood”. That, or I just want to feel better about all of the Toblerone I’ve eaten over the last week. Still, it works.

Rooney Mara is excellent, too. I got horribly confused about her being in Sherlock, (review to follow – loved it), and Prometheus… a bit rookie, I know. I’ve read IMDB now, and am less confused, but she was brilliant. The final shot, which bugged me initially, I’m growing to love. The bits in between, and her accent, are just spot on. Lisbeth Salander is just a brilliant, brilliant character. Immediately iconic, (now to a wider audience), and I look forward to the sequels, (money talks), to see where they go with the character.

And therein my dilemma… Do I invest time in the originals… Or even the Extended Editions… or wait. Because, if Fincher makes this his “franchise”, (urgh), then I’m there for the long haul. I tend to want it all, or nothing at all, so I see myself picking up the Blu’s before long. Maybe for my Sons fourth Birthday.

Joke.

There’s one major element I need to get off my chest, however.

I alluded to it at the start, and that is the rape element. Like the original, the film doesn’t shy away from it, and seeing a Hollywood film depict rape in that way is going to shock a lot of people. This isn’t Noe, or Verhoeven. It’s Fincher. And as much as he’ll always be the Director of my second favourite film of all time, he’ll be just as well-known as the “guy that did the Facebook movie”. It will shock a lot of people.

I realise that I’d been letting that theme, and those scenes, stop me even getting anything from the trilogy. Seeing Fincher’s remake, I should have felt… at ease. He starts the film with such a breath-taking credits sequence I don’t think I even took breath. Truly like a Bond opening, the oil slicked sequence alludes to Salander getting her revenge – and she certainly does.

That said, several close friends won’t be seeing this film because of that theme, and I totally understand. This film isn’t for everyone. Several scenes are tough, but I have to admit, that’s what I ended up loving about the film. It is so Un-Hollywood, so anti establishment, so adult, that I struggled to think the last time I saw a film like it. It bucks the trend, and offers people a way out from the sugar-coated Arthur Christmas, and *gulp*, Hugo.

All in, I loved the film. Pacing gets better as the film goes on, (I thought MC was going to doze off in the first half hour). Fincher actually punctuates the slow scenes incredibly well. Whether it is a single shot of a couple on a beach, only to freeze frame it into a photo. Or the way journals are read aloud, as if they were radio broadcasts. Fincher just has style. And he makes everything feel unsafe, and foreign.

As a 3D advocate, I need him to jump on board. Several shots, of snow coming at the camera, or trains pulling into the front of the screen, are perfect. And, as you’ll have read, the music is pretty epic, too. It’s used so inappropriately at times, like Salander walking in a hallway, (dur dur dur), you’d think you were watching a Horror movie. And you sort of are.

Fincher’s meticulous eye for detail, (some of this out-Zodiacs Zodiac), make this a must see. I want to see where Salander was riding off too. Where she’ll go next. If you can get past some of the unsavoury themes, I’m pretty sure you’ll feel the same.