If you're not familiar with author Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, either through his novels or the Swedish language film series that followed, then all you need to know that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a cracking serial killer whodunit with two very different, but complimentary, protagonists leading the hunt. This being a David Fincher film you can be assured it's meticulously constructed, looks as stylish, sleek and dark as you'd imagined, and is absorbed in the details of the characters, the history and the intricacies of the murder case in a way that only Fincher can orchestrate.
On top of that you've got a great, atmospheric score from collaborators Atticus Ross and Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor, there's one of the greatest title sequences to grace a motion picture in a decade or two and it's got a stunning cast in Christopher Plummer, Steven Berkoff (remarkably subdued), Stellan Skarsgard (charming and creepy, of course), Robin Wright and Joely Richardson (surely her first and only great performance?) Oh, and there's a career best turn from Daniel Craig (naturalistic, vulnerable, intelligent) and a brilliant show from Rooney Mara as anti-heroine Lisbeth Salender who equals the excellence of Noomi Rapace in the 2009 version. Salender's like the female Snake Pliskin of the new millennium; she's extremely smart, will go to any lengths to achieve her objectives and doesn't give a shit about anybody (well, nearly.)
If you have seen the Swedish 2009 version then the best comparison is the Let The Right One In films. Dragon Tattoo USA is like Let Me In USA in that they're almost identical in quality, tone, subtext, even down to how scenes are composed and played out to the original Swedish counterparts. The main difference, apart from the English language, is that the US versions are 15% to 20% more cinematic.
It's not a quality thing, but a taste thing. If you like one version, you're sure to like the other. If you didn't like one adaptation, don't bother with the other one. So the remake is very good indeed, good enough to receive awards this time of year I'd say. But as Fincher has already noted, maybe there's too much ass raping for series Oscar contention. Shame.
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