Thursday, 12 January 2012

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film review

Daniel Craig may be a terrible James Bond but he's excellent in this Hollywood version of the bestselling novel by Steig Larson - even though he's the only member of the cast who doesn't attempt a Swedish accent and plays Blomkvist with his own voice. Not that it matters and he looks perfect in the role - suitable disheveled and world weary. Of course the most difficult task fell to actress Rooney Mara who had to bring Lisbeth Salander to life. Not an easy job considering that Noomi Rapace's performance in the original was considered definitive, but Rooney makes a very different Salander and if anything brings the damaged character to life far more effectively.

The title sequence is very James Bondish, which worried me as I feared they would push out Craig as his thuggish 007,  but as soon as Craig steps onto the screen his Bond persona is a million miles away. I think the original Swedish film slightly topped this one but that's not to take anything away from this dark thriller. It's runs around two and a half hours but doesn't feel like it and almost immediately the viewer is sucked into the story.

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