Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The (2011)

Synopsis: Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a recently disgraced journalist, is hired by a retired industrialist, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), to dig into the disappearance of his niece decades earlier. In need of assistance, he employs Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a punkish hacker who profiled him for his new employer.

When I paid for my ticket, the girl at the counter informed me that there would be no refunds given for the movie. An odd thing, I thought, why would they be telling me that? And then the heroine is anally raped - thankfully it was not at an Irreversible level of prolongation, but it was pretty nasty nonetheless. So I had my answer. And as it happens, the investigation into the disappearance of the niece leads to a family history of incest, serial killing and Nazism. Although the latter has little to do with anything and seems to exist purely to give the story a bit of colour, it is all quite unsavoury stuff. Nobody walked out though, and to be honest this is a far less disturbing film than Fincher’s 1995 film, Se7en. The novels from which the film derives, the Millennium trilogy, are well-known and indeed this, the first instalment of the trilogy, was filmed in Swedish in 2009. So plenty of people would be aware of the plot, but then as this version will attract a much broader demographic, plenty won’t, so the warning I got was for those innocent of the knowledge that the story is pretty messed up.

As I’ve never read the books myself, or seen the Swedish version, I can’t speak to the accuracy of the adaptation, but it hasn’t changed my impression that they are much like a set of well-written airport novels. The film is a perfectly serviceable thriller, lacking a bit in twists and turns but moving with a steady acceleration towards a revelation that isn’t particularly unexpected, but well-handled nonetheless. What is surprising is that it comes at the end of the second act, and the final act is concerned with the fallout, and the broken promises of Blomkvist’s employer. Promises that Lisbeth makes good on, in an entertainingly inventive way. She’s the star of the story, a completely arresting character that explains why the books have the reputation they do. Mentally and emotionally unbalanced, but blessed with an incredible mind, she suffers but she’s never beaten, always finding a way to avenge herself on her tormentors. It’s in the final third that the film starts to shine, as Mikael and Lisbeth become more and more interesting to watch.

The first hour is a slog, but once it gets going The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a solid little thriller. I’m not going to rave about it, and although I did run from the cinema as the dire end credits song started to roll, I didn’t ask for my money back.

 

 

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