"To say I was looking forward to seeing this movie is an understatement". That's the line I started the blog entry for David Fincher's last film the social network and I was right for using it then as I am right for using it now. David Fincher has directed yet another masterpiece and he has, in my humble opinion moved himself into the same rarefied aid of Spielberg, Scott, Scorsese, Jackson, and Nolan. His latest offering, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo far surpasses the original Swedish film adaptation of the book by the same title. The book, originally entitled Men Who Hate Women is clearly shown in many aspects of both films but Fincher pulls no punches in his rendition and Rooney Mara falls so deeply into Lisbeth Salander that you'd think she had been waiting to play this role all her life.
Noomi Rapace played Lisbeth in the Swedish versions and she has since become a star thanks to that role. She is currently in the latest Sherlock Holmes film and is also in the eagerly anticipated upcoming movie Prometheus directed by Ridley Scott. She chose not to reprise her role for Fincher's version which was smart on her part. I personally don't see how anyone could have played Lisbeth twice, the demands are so great. That opened the door for Rooney Mara who was also in Fincher's the social network. She was the young lady at the table in the beginning of the movie with Mark Zuckerberg played brilliantly by Jessie Eisenberg where she dumps him. Hard to believe that's the same young actress when you see her in Tattoo.
She is surrounded by an exceptional cast in this movie starting with Daniel Craig who actually shows his acting skills. Playing James Bond I guess doesn't allow for such nonsense as say acting. Rounding out the cast is the exceptional Christopher Plummer playing the patriarch Henrik Vanger, Steven Berkoff who I have always been a fan of since first seeing him in Beverly Hills Cop, Stellan Skarsgard, Joely Richardson, Robin Wright, and a Goran Visnjic sighting. For those that loved the show ER in it's AC days (After Clooney) know who he is. Throw that talented lot into a pot along with a screenplay written by the Oscar award winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian, Oscar nominated cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, and Fincher and you are bound to have a superior movie.
Since Stieg Larsson's books have been out for years now I won't get into plot detail but I will say that what makes Fincher's Tattoo better than Niels Arden Oplev's version is that in Fincher's film Lisbeth seems more fleshed out. Granted there are times when she's robotic in her actions and seems almost Vulcan in her showing emotion but Fincher not only makes that work, he plays upon it. Where Oplev's version ends with the death of the bad man, Fincher shows the complicated yet blossiming friendship between Lisbeth and Blomkvist. He also shows how wily and talented a hacker Lisbeth is by illegally accruing a fortune. I am really hoping Fincher will do The Girl who played with Fire which is the second book in the trilogy and my favorite of the three.
The score, put together by the Oscar award winning duo that won for the social network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are back at it again and while this score isn't as dynamic as network, it is far moodier and darker than their last one which fits this film perfectly. I think they will be working with Fincher for as long as he is making films because they seem to be on his wavelength. It'll be like the pairings of Speilberg/Williams and Nolan/Zimmer. When you see it's a Fincher film you will instantly know Reznor and Ross will be doing the score.
Go see this movie, you won't be sorry you did and I'll see you at the theater
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