The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Review

With the release of the US version of theDragon Tattoo Trilogy series coming in about three months, I decided to rent the Swedish films and see what the craze was all about ahead of time. I admit the David Fincher trailer definitely got my attention a few months back when I saw X Men First Class...and now after watching the three films I can say the trailer for the US version does a fantastic job of grabbing the audiences attention but it is extremely misleading! It's interesting how the US trailer is spliced together, I think alot of people are gonna walk out of the theater this December wondering how they're anticipations were so different from what they just watched.



The other reason I rented these films was to see Noomi Rapace as she has been cast in Ridley Scott's up-coming Sci Fi film Prometheus. And I can say she has a very bright future ahead of her.
Ok so I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I cannot imagine certain scenes in the US version being as vivid and controversial as the Swedish films, those who've seen it or read the novels know what I'm refering to.
There were a number of factors that kept me glued to the TV, the foreign locales, I'm actually tired of overhead camera angle over US cities, the panning shots of the Manhattan/LA/Boston/Chicago skylines and the overall over exposure of US landmarks like The Empire State Building, the Sears Tower and the Hollywood sign, so the scenes in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were a refreshing change of scenery.
Another factor that kept my interest was my unfamiliararity with the  actors and actresses, not having a pre conceived notion of the types of characters an actor plays helps support the mystery. I liked not having the slightest idea what each actor was known for, like I mentioned it helped keep the villains less obvious to me.
There are a great many significant characters that encompass the trilogy and if you don't pay attention you may get slightly derailed, first there's Mikael Blomkvist a journalist for a small publication named Millenium. He is hired by Henrik Vanger, a member of the wealthy and powerful Vanger family to investigate the murder of his neice Harriet who vanished in 1944 after the Swedish Children's Day Holiday.
Lisbeth Salander a strong willed yet very private young woman hired to investigate Blomkvist who is also a skilled hacker, her state appointed guardian has a stroke and is replaced by Nils Bjurman.
Henrik Vanger supplies Mikael with all the evidence collected over the years by inspector Morell and a brief history of the Vanger family including Henriks brothers Harald, and Gottfried. 
Mikael Blomkvist discovers that Lisbeth Salander has been hacking his computer, tracks her down and convinces her to assist him with his investigation. The two uncover that there is more to Harriets murder than originally thought and their investigation unravels a nightmarish story of abduction, rape, torture and murder. 


The first film really focus's more on the character of Mikael Blomkvist and his investigation of Harriet Vangers disappearance and eventual partnership with Lisbeth Salander. 
There are events in this film involving Lisbeth  that lead to the events that take place in the second and third films, the Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest that make Lisbeth Zalachecnko Salander.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was good mystery with some honestly disturbing and unnerving scenes that I cannot imagine will be as graphic in the David Fincher versions coming later this year.
For more on Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo trilogy head over to http://dragontattoofilm.com/
B+