Just got back from the theatre, where Kati and I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Kati had read the three book series and really wanted to see this movie. She commented that this is one the best adaptation of a movie based on a book she’s ever seen. I have to say, this is probably the best movie I’ve seen this year, probably in a long time. The acting was amazing and the plot was extremely interesting.
The story is about a journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig), who is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the death of his daughter from 35 years ago. As he is figuring out what happens, he gets an assistant, Lizbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara), the girl with the dragon tattoo. Lizbeth, is basically an hacker/investigator for a company. She is 23 years old but is a ward of the state because she was ruled incompetent/insane as a child. She is extremely intelligent but has had a very rough life. This movie reveals the dark side of Sweden as Lizbeth and Mikael’s fates intersect and they journey together in solving Vanger’s daughter’s death.
I wholeheartedly give this movie 5 out of 5 Circus Peanuts, with two caveats.
1) The “hacking” is not very realistic, this is typical of all movies though.
2) This movie is VERY R-rated. Rooney Mara has a few nude/sex scenes in the movie. There are also extremely graphic (and disturbing) rape/revenge scenes.
Regardless, this movie has definitely peaked my interested to the next two books in the series. I believe I’ll start reading them soon.