I'm hoping I don't have to spell this out for you since I don't have the patience to. We've all the heard of the books by now. The trilogy written by Stieg Larsson. He turned in the manuscripts and then died shortly after. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first of the trilogy, now a movie directed by Niels Arden Oplev, and sinfully entertaining. The film reaches two and a half hours, but all of it necessary in order to do the book justice. I haven't read the book, but he only complaint I've heard is that the film moves rather fast in order to get all the details.
Based on the very appropriate title, it's hard to know what you're getting into. Many people just know the title and that there's a badass chick who's good with computers but that's it. No more. Well, here's what it's actually about: Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is a famous journalist sentenced to jail for publishing a false story about a politician. But the thing is, Mikael had legit sources, it wasn't until the trial that he realized he'd been set up and lied to during research for the story.
Enter Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a professional and damn good computer hacker (yes, they exist). Before her boss introduces her to anyone, he gives them a disclaimer excusing the way she looks, saying her appearance is deceiving, but she'll do the job. This disclaimer is quite necessary when you're dealing with leather platform boots, skinny jeans, a motor jacket, two nose rings, a lip ring, five ear piercings, and slanted black hair. Although, amongst all this black attire and cold attitude is a rather pretty face topping off a buff bod that looks like she tenderizes meat with her fists in her spare time. The poor girl just wants to live her life the way she wants--while chain smoking, of course.
Mikael is contacted by an old man named Henrik who is aware of his situation and believes Mikael can help him. Henrik has a histroy of bad blood in the family, though there was one girl he cared for deeply: Harriet. Harriet, as Mikael can remember, used to babysit him when he was a small boy. What he didn't know was that Harriet disappeared when she was a teenager, believed to be murdered. Each Christmas, Henrik receives a framed flower sent anonymously by some far off destination; sometimes Hong Kong, other times Canada or Taiwan. Henrik believes the sender is Harriet's killer and gives Mikael access to everyone in his family since he thinks a blood relative is the culprit.
Lisbeth has never seen or spoken a word to Mikael, yet she knows he was set up and should not be going to jail. She hacked into his computer. Naturally. She goes through his files in silence and discovers that he's on the case of the missing Harriet. When Lisbeth discovers a pattern in a series of murders, all female victims, she e-mails Mikael the biggest clue ever to be uncovered. And the film takes off from there.
The thing that's wonderful about this movie is that it has a solid theme without even meaning to. You pick it up automatically like a scent. And it's that violence towards women is never forgiven or forgotten. Lisbeth knows this best, which makes Noomi Rapace the best actress to walk the planet after Meryl Streep. Noomi was 29 when this was filmed, married with a child, and yet she pulled off a character that probably does not even exist in real life, at least not as a whole. She more resembles a cartoon character, an action figure. The victim becomes the heroin.
Early in the film we discover Lisbeth has a gorilla of a past that comes back to haunt her in the form of a guardian. It's never really explained, but somehow she has a vague version of a foster parent to look over her finances and record her whereabouts due to a stint in a mental hospital when she was a child. When she first meets him, we discover, right off the bat, this dude is evil. Like someone who abuses his powers is evil. He abuses her after 10 minutes of conversation. In his eyes, what he's doing for her is a favor that must be returned in the form of sex, even if she's utterly unwilling. It's awful to watch, let alone hear. But Lisbeth is a tough chick and we know this, which makes the whole situation more like Superman's kryponite rather than a sheep with a gun to its head. As expected, Lisbeth gets a damn good revenge involving telephone cords and a television.
Mikael tracks Lisbeth down through her e-mail and confronts her face-to-face at her apartment, saying that if she wanted to keep her identity hidden, why would she e-mail him something so simple to trace back to her? Yes, he's angry that she's hacked into his computer like a curious child, but he also knows that partnering up with her is a huge advantage. Thus follows a complex and interesting relationship of give and take, completely evened out and logical in the way they work together. They're a fantastic pair.
To wrap this up and urge you to see this for yourself, I wonder why on earth there's even a need for a remake? With the subtitles slapped on the screen, it's as entertaining and gritty as any James Bond film. Are we really too lazy to spend 2 seconds reading a sentence like a picture book? I had no problem with it and I have no problem with this film. Zero complaints. As for the dragon tattoo, we know who has it, but not why. Next one, please!
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