The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomqvist is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Vanger’s great-niece Harriet. Henrik suspects that someone in his family, the powerful Vanger clan, murdered Harriet over forty years ago.

Starting his investigation, Mikael realizes that Harriet’s disappearance is not a single event, but rather linked to series of gruesome murders in the past. He now crosses paths with Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker, an asocial punk and most importantly, a young woman driven by her vindictiveness.

Together they form an unlikely couple as they dive deeper into the violent past of the secretive Vanger family.


Reception

So far, the film has received critical acclaim amongst various publications and critics; film aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has cited that 85% of 136 critics have reviewed the film positively. The site's consensus states: "Brutal yet captivating, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the result of David Fincher working at his lurid best with total role commitment from star Rooney Mara."
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Fincher has made The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo into an electrifying movie by turning the audience into addicts of the forbidden, looking for the sick and twisted things we can't see." While rewarding the film an "A" and praising Fincher's direction, he also gave high marks to Rooney Mara's performance which he stated "draws us to a quality deep inside her beyond her ability to solve a crime. By the end, she can feel something, maybe a touch of tenderness."
Rooney Mara has received universal acclaim for her performance, with Entertainment Weekly calling her a "revelation" going on to say that "Mara acts with a quiet power – a rage chilled into silence – that is almost ghostly." Variety noted her performance is "hypnotic and fearless".
Daniel Craig has also received critical notice for his performance as Mikael Blomkvist who was described by David Germain of the Associated Press "as an anchor of cool rationality and judiciousness." Germain gave the film a 3.5/4 rating.
David Denby, writing for The New Yorker, who created much controversy over his publishing of his review before the December 13th review embargo ended,[ reacted positively to the film and stated that it "is a bleak but mesmerizing piece of filmmaking; it offers a glancing, chilled view of a world in which brief moments of loyalty flicker between repeated acts of betrayal." Denby also gave praise to Rooney Mara saying "Mara steals every scene she's in."
Scott Tobias of AV Club gave the film a "B+" rating, praising the chemistry between Mara and Craig.
Reacting negatively to the film, Ed Gonzalez, writing for Slant, described the film as "The most handsome funeral procession ever mounted--which is, in the end, better than feeling like you're the corpse lying inside the coffin."
Niels Arden Oplev, the director of the 2009 Swedish film adaptation, has been quoted as saying, "Why would they remake something when they can just go see the original?"

Trailer

Details

Country:

 USA | Sweden | UK | Germany

Official Sites:

 MGM Studios [United States] | Official site | 

Language:

 English

Release Date:

 20 December 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

 Drottninggatan, Uppsala, Uppsala län, Sweden

Also Known As:

 Verblendung