The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo review by Ben Kenber

You look at her from a distance, and all you see is just another punk chick who’s nothing but trouble, born under a bad sign. You’d figure that she’s pierced her body in lord only knows how many places, and the mascara applied to her eyes might make you see her as an intimidating threat. Not once does she try to adjust her antisocial behavior or her clothing attire in the workplace, and this is a sign on how unwilling she is to compromise her learned set of values. Be honest with yourself for a moment; if you saw this person in real life, you would most likely avoid her unless you were under the impression that she shares the same interests as you. Of course, you would have to work up the courage to talk to her like she is any other girl, and only then will you be able to confirm that.

But once you get to know her, you will find that Lisbeth Salander is not your average punk rock girl. In fact, she’s a brilliant hacker and researcher who knows more about yourself than you could ever think. Bo Diddley was right, you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover. I mean you could, but she would just kick your ass because a rough upbringing has more than prepared her for that.

Lisbeth Salander is the heroine of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a brilliant mystery/thriller based on the best selling novel by the late Stieg Larsson. Many have said that Noomi Rappace gives a star making performance as Lisbeth, and that could not be more true. In her performance, Noomi finds the heart of this incredibly intelligent yet very mysterious character whose past is hinted at but never explained until the end, but we come to get enough of a glimpse which helps us understand where she is coming from. Lisbeth sets the bar high in terms of compelling characters (and not just females) you can find in movies right now, and I mean ones from any country.

Right from the start, this film absorbs us in its compelling mystery involving the case of a missing girl that has remained unsolved for 40 years. Mikael Blomkvist (played by Michael Nyqvist), who is coming off of a trial where he was wrongfully disgraced, is hired by rich man Henrik Vanger (played by Sven-Bertil Taube) who wants him to look into the disappearance of his great-niece Harriet who was last seen when she was 16 years old. Henrik believes that Harriet was murdered by someone in his family, and it’s a very dysfunctional family filled with those who will fight each other for the whole inheritance without a single thought for their own bloodline.

As much as I try to resist, I have to say it: nothing is as it seems. Looks are deceiving? Damn right!

Believe me when I say that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo puts so many American movies of this genre to such utter shame. Seriously, many of the mystery thrillers I have seen in the past few years are full of plot holes that Michael Bay could lead both Autobots and Decepticons through no matter how enormous they are. Instead of being enthralled by them, we come out of them feeling like they are at best average, but they allow us to feel like we are smarter than the filmmakers since we spotted all their mistakes.

Compared to all those wannabes, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has a very well constructed plot to where if it is at all flawed, we certainly don’t realize it right away as we are watching the film. Your attention is fully drawn in by what’s going on in a way that most other movies could only dream of maintaining with your average 90 minute motion picture. It also doesn’t go all M. Nigh Shyamalan on us, desperately grasping for that last twist ending you didn’t see coming (ENOUGH ALREADY!).

But where this movie truly succeeds is as a character piece in how much it involves us in the lives of two people from very different backgrounds. The two main characters are very well developed to where they are very complex, something I always look forward to. What’s on the surface of Lisbeth and Mikael does not even begin to give you an idea of the kind of people they are. Lisbeth is a wounded person, damaged by life, and the trust she puts in others is exceedingly rare. These two end up coming together in this case as Lisbeth has been hacking into Mikael’s computer as part of his case, and she ends up giving him some clues in his case that had eluded him. While she is hesitant to get involved with Mikael professionally or emotionally, he points out that she contacted him in a way that is “easily to track.”

Lisbeth and Mikael are indeed the odd couple and yet perfectly matched to work on a case that is as cold as they come. Both are also coming together at the same time they are each in their most isolated of states, having been very much misunderstood by authority and the public at large. While everyone in general sees them in one way, they come to see one another as who they really are. The more they work together, the more they gain each other’s trust. In the large scheme of things, these are two people who do not settle on how the public defines them. Throughout the movie, each is keen to learn about the other, and that’s regardless of how hesitant Lisbeth is to do so.

Now I haven’t read the book this film is based on, nor have I read anything else by Stieg Larson, but I can’t help but wonder if these characters are as wonderfully complex in his books as they are on the big screen. This by the way extends beyond the two main characters. Henrik Vagner is not your typical rich dude who has no love for the common man, but a person caught up in a desperate need to discover a truth that has evaded him for decades. Plus, one character at the end of the movie (trust me, you’ll know who I’m talking about) gives evil such a normal looking face to where it makes this person’s crimes all the more terrifying.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was directed by Niels Arden Oplev, a three-time award-winning director from Denmark. I have never heard of him before, but he deserves a lot of credit for keeping us deeply involved in a movie that could have easily ended up being far too long. Not once did I find myself getting bored or restless while I sat in one of the many comfortable seats at Landmark Theaters in Los Angeles. Niels balances out the story and acting to where they are on equal footing and never outdone by style. Never does he indulge in quirky camera angles or other visual elements that would intentionally or unintentionally take away from this movie. Some film directors just love to show off instead of just trusting what is there, and Niels clearly lays his complete trust in the story and the actors that have been cast.

Now I’ve already praised Noomi Rapace, so let’s look at the actor who stars alongside her. Michael Nyqvist does excellent work as Mikael Blomkvist, showing his strong resolve and utter frustration without going overboard in order to make clear what he’s feeling. When he is first shown to the audience, it is as a man who has just been found guilty. We don’t why right away, so we can only assume that he had it coming or that he was perhaps framed. We see him walking down the street and then his picture comes up on television, pretty much defining him in the eyes of those who do not know him intimately (just about everyone). But Michael invests his character with a strong moral code which he never surrenders even when it seems smart for him to do so. We sympathize with him as it always seems that the wealthiest in the world are more than willing to smash down the individual, especially when said individual is correct in what he or she discovers. The truth always seems to come at a heavy price.

There is also very strong work from the supporting cast, all of whom are perfectly chosen. Peter Andersson doesn’t even try to hide the hideous slime that consumes his utterly immoral character of Bjurman, a sexually abusive bastard who takes advantage of Lisbeth in the worst way possible. Even worse, he is her new legal guardian who takes charge of her trust fund after her original guardian suffers a stroke. Not to worry though, the pain Bjurman inflicts on Lisbeth comes back at him in an even more vicious fashion, once again showing that what you see on the surface does not even begin to tell you what’s inside.

But now let’s go back to Noomi Rapace who brings the powerful life force to Lisbeth Salander, a character destined to become as iconic as Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs. Beneath that hard exterior of hers lies a person whose trust in others is practically non-existent for reasons that become clearer as the movie goes on. Rapace more than succeeds in making Lisbeth tough as well as sympathetic. Her performance could easily have been a caricature, but Noomi proves to be far too good of an actress to do that. The moment where she clasps hands with Michael is more than enough to show how far she has come in such a seemingly cruel world.

Two sequels based on Steig Larsson’s follow up novels have already been made, and I eagerly await the opportunity to see them on the big screen. They will have a tough act to follow after The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but with Noomi and Michael reprising their roles, they will continue one of the more interesting and unusual partnerships you can hope to find in movies today, and by that I mean anywhere else in the world.

It will be interesting to see who will be the next idiotic human being to think have complete control over Lisbeth. Even more interesting will be in what way Lisbeth lets that person know just how incredibly wrong they were. Pray for whoever it is.

**** out of ****

NOTE: Hollywood is indeed planning an American remake of this film. But while your eyes may be rolling in your head right now, the good news is that David Fincher will be the one directing it. Of course, you have to wonder who could possibly play Lisbeth Sander as Noomi Rapace does. The bar is already set high on that role.