The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

Along with Tintin, I also had the pleasure of seeing one of the greatest movies I have ever seen this week. This movie had style, humor, mystery, and even some other dark elements that will take you by surprise. The movie, of course, was the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, based off the acclaimed books by Stieg Larsson. The movie had me hooked on the mystery that was involved, and had me guessing until the final clue was revealed.

The story followed Michael Blomkvist, a journalist who recently got busted for libel against Wennerström, a wealthy business man. However he then gets hired by Henrik Vanger, a wealthy man who hires Blomkvist to do his memoirs, though the ultimate task is to try and figure out the forty year old mystery of who killed his niece, Harriet Vanger. Along the line of solving this mystery, Blomkvist encounters the punk hacker, Elisabeth Salander. Together, they solve the mystery of who murdered Vanger's beloved niece.

As the original novel and story was set in Sweden, I am pleased to say that the American movie adaptation was also set in Sweden, which I'll give them credit for not trying to Americanize it. They also kept to Elisabeth's punk appearance, and some of her outfits were nothing short of amazing.

In the begining of the movie, the story seems to be split in two parts: Michael's story and his struggle of trying to get reliability back, and Elisabeth, or Lisabeth trying to make ends meet financially. Blomkvist's part of the story might seem boring at first, such as him just wandering around Sweden Some parts with Lisabeth made me highly uncomfortable, such as her doing sexual favors for the person that she was getting money from, and her revenge on the guy was making her do such favors was a bit cringe worthy, even among the guys in the audience.

The one thing that made this film highly enjoyable, and probably one of the best films I have ever watched, was  the fact even though the beginning was slow, it had an an excellent pace, humor at just the right places, and the serious parts where they counted. The msytery had me gripped, my mind frantically working out the case before the cast did, and it turned out, at every twist and turn, there was something new to consider. Overall, the atmosphere was amazing, and well planned out.

The acting was superb in the anime. First, you have one of my all time favorite actors, Daniel Craig, playing Michael Blomkvist. Mara Roony was Lisabth Salander, and she did an excellent job portraying the character of a top notch hacker, and the rest of the supporting cast did well. The only complaint I honest have with the cast is that the Vangers seemed to blend together, and everyone else seemed not important or got caught up in the mix.

If you're looking for a mystery, with some romance, and even some some humor here and there, then I say go see this movie. The movie will keep you on the edge of your seats, and leave you wanting more of the characters.