100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 59: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 145 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Gunnel Lindblom, Michalis Koutsogiannakis, Sven-Bertil Taube, Ingvar Hirdwall, Peter Haber, Ewa Fröling, Marika Lagercrantz, Sofia Ledarp, Fredrik Ohlsson

Description: A journalist (Michael Nyqvist) is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing -- or dead -- for forty years by a young female hacker (Noomi Rapace).

Review: The Millenium series is probably one of the most talk about book series of the past years, written by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. At first, they look like standard Scandinavian thrillers, but the books eventually turn out to be page turning experiences, with a fascinating main character: Lisbeth Salander. And this was the biggest deal. Were they going to find the right person for this rol in the film?
Director Niel Arden Oplev decided to give Salander a bigger role in the film, which is a good thing. She is far out the most interesting part of the stories. But the movie starts out with Michael Blomkvist and focusses on him at first. He just quit his job at the magazine Millenium, after he lost a case in court. Blomkvist is hired by business man Henrik Vanger, to investigate the disappearance of his niece Harriët Vanger. During his search, Blomkvist teams ups with Lisbeth Salander. She is a young yet driven hacker. Salander always dresses in black and is covered with piercings and tattoos. It is clear that she is traumatized by things from the past and has lost contact with practically everyone in her surroundings.
To adapt a books with over 500 pages to film, you have to make decisions and still don’t lose the magic of the source material. Here they made the right decisions. The trial of Blomkvist, the first hundred pages of the film, are summed up in ten minutes for the film. Good choice. The film wins in tempo here. And the many affairs that Blomkvist has, are also brought to a minimum. The only problem I had with this film, is the same I had with the book. It’s too long and the last part drags and doesn’t feel needed.
Noomi Rapace is the right choice for Lisbeth Salander. It’s a though role to play and she does an excellent job.
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a strong thriller, that threated the source material with respect. It’s definitely better than the American version by David Fincher, which was also a good movie.

Rating: 4/ 5