Genre: Thriller / Drama / Mystery
Director: David Fincher
Plot: A disgraced journalist teams up with a computer hacker to investigate the disappearance of a rich man's grandniece 40 years ago.
The gist: I had been looking forward to this film for a while now. I haven't read the book, so I can't say how faithful David Fincher's adaptation really is, but it's clear that he tried his best to put in as much from the book as he could. In fact, it felt like he tried to put in everything and as a result, the film moves really fast until at times it felt like the potential emotional impact from certain scenes were lost.
I'm kinda surprised that the film won best editing at the Oscars because it felt like it could use some work here. No doubt that the editing team did a great job on The Social Network prior to this, but here this kind of editing style hurt the film a bit. It would have been better if Fincher left out some unnecessary scenes in favor of letting some of the quieter, emotional moments simmer.
But I will commend Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig for their stellar performances here. Craig is very different from his tough guy Bond role here while Mara is unrecognizable as Lisbeth Salander, and she is the real central character, doing so well in getting herself noticed by the audience despite turning away from the camera so often. She is a revelation in this film.
The mystery the duo are investigating is fascinating, though this is more of a whodunit than an actual serial killer thriller, so if you're looking for more of the latter, you won't find it.
The good: Craig is great in a nice change from being James Bond and Mara is excellent. The opening credit sequence is awesome, almost like a Bond film kind of sequence. The setting of winter in Sweden is very fitting for the film as it contributes to the dark tone of the story.
The bad: The pace needs to slow down a bit, with some better editing. The climax is nearly non existent, plus the relationship between Craig and Mara develops too rapidly to be credible.
Verdict: It's flawed but still a solid watch, thanks to Craig and Mara. (3.5/5)
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