The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

An atmospheric illustration of a subordinate storyline from the novel; nothing more, nothing less. On one hand it is terribly little for Fincher (a special aspect of his preceding five adaptations of novels was that he always used his own interpretation and viewpoint, and Larsson offers much in this respect; too bad that he cut it down to this unimportant thrilleroid part), on the other it must be said that there are illustrations by nobodys and illustrations like those by Zdeněk Burian, which enrich the original story and become inseparable. And, in the same way that Craig is Blomkvist and Mara is Lisbeth (although an utterly different Lisbeth than Noomi), this is Burian. And yes, Fincher is still the same formal pedant under whom Reznor is growing into one of the timeless greats. Just Enya, removed of innocence once and for all, disappointed. (01/11/2012)

My slight disappointment stems paradoxically from my ignorance of the book, which is obviously not very suitable for filming. This is because the quantity of names becomes annoying after a while, although otherwise, Fincher does great work as usual in all other components, so we do get a great soundtrack (but this time it's too "off the charts" for the Oscar race:)), excellent cinematography (which underlines the pedantic narrative), and precise actors. But I'll definitely go see it again. The fact that the gardener is the murderer will soon dawn on even the slower folks, but that's beside the point. How we get there is the first priority this time. Fincher is the best director alive right now, period. (01/15/2012)

A nice mainstream fairy tale. The humor and story work even if haven’t read the book or seen the original trilogy. It wasn’t that long ago that Hollywood found it necessary to update and rewrite Japanese and other horror flicks, but if it's currently fashionable to remake Swedish films, I'm somewhat more sympathetic to that. Lisbeth Salander is a girl that contemporary mass pop culture can't do without, so why not be happy that her series is good? Fincher doesn't always suit my tastes, I don't seek out Craig, and I wouldn't have thought Rooney Mara would be capable of such a personality after the Facebook girl. I'm very fond of Stellan Skarsgård this year and Christopher Plummer is king, but the person who is a downright joy to see on screen is the ethereal being Joely Richardson. I need to see Joely more often, and I'm very much in the mood for a little marathon with the original Lisbeth - and that's exactly the effect the film was supposed to have. (01/11/2012)

If I compare the procedural ritual Zodiac and this sexless genre trap, it's clear that Fincher was doing a studio job. Nordic detectives are not cool. They're really weird. This version was unable to capture this at all. The investigation is secondary here, and what makes it twice as bad given that it’s Fincher - any pathological charge slips away here. The fact that the killer listens to Enya is a weak band-aid. Anal sex in the form in which the film offers it can really outrage only unbroken Catholics, and there were more places where I searched in vain for Fincher's contribution. Personally, I suffered through most of the film - and something tells me that if you don't know the book, some of the things won't make sense (for a detective story, the motivations of the killer and the detective are quite crucial, which are hardly found here). (01/11/2012)

It's obvious that his film is a completely unnecessary contribution considering the two years older original, but that in itself doesn't detract from the fact that it's excellently made and once again highlights Fincher's mastery as a director. After Se7en and The Game, it would seem that he can't surprise with anything, but he makes another great two and a half hour detective story based mainly on interviews and collecting clues, and not only keeps the viewer's attention, but also perfectly imbues them with his dark style and pulls them right into the middle of that merry-go-round. He had already worked with similar material in Zodiac, but here he goes one step further, with not only excellent actors, music and settings, but above all a subtle and clearly defined theme with which he can work miracles. I’m not saying that he’s made a perfect or groundbreaking film, and I understand the lukewarm reception from the supporters of the Swedish original, but for me as a big Fincher fan, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a great experience that I will remember for a long time. 90% (10/27/2012)