The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Let me just start by saying, David Fincher is one of my favorite directors of all time. His movies, Fight Club and Se7en in particular, are some of my top 50 movies of all time. Needless to say, I went into this movie with high expectations. Bluntly speaking, it did not meet my expectations which is probably my fault for even having such standard for Fincher. This is not to say The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a bad movie but it simply isn't nearly to the level of some of Fincher's other work. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's premise is as follows: Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist, is sued by a large Swedish corporation and takes a job in order to clear his name. Mikael hires Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker, to solve the mystery of Harriet Vanger, a woman who has been missing for forty years.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's color palette and cinematography are incredibly drab with strong use of a sickening yellowy-green to evoke dread. The film is either set in bright snow or a dark night creating a strong visual contrast.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is absolutely brutal to watch with one of the tensest scenes I've seen in awhile happing in the second act. Let me lay it down for you: the killer of woman around Sweden is revealed to the viewer where he captures and drugs Mikael. We find Mikael hanging down from his arms and neck and anticipate as the killer prepares to slice Mikael's privates off. I won't reveal who the killer is as that would ruin the fun but let me just say the dialogue that precedes it is phenomenally done with some excellent direction from Fincher. 

By far the best part about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is Rooney Mara's brilliant performance as Lisbeth Salander. Mara fully convinced me she was Salander. To start with her appearance is transcending, dyeing her eyebrows a blonde, getting nose and face piercings, a mohawk, all of which fully convinces the viewer that Lisbeth Salander is a bonafide badass. Her character is incredibly interesting to analyze as the viewer never fully knows what she might do next. Mara fully commits to her role as Salander. We never once doubt her abilities. Daniel Craig's performance as Mikael was decent as he was able to play a more sensitive man despite his background as the iconic 007. 

My biggest issue with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is its pacing and ending. The first half of this movie is achingly slow and then drags on for far too long. The movie shines around 3/4s in when tensions are at its most yet once that's over it feels forced. The biggest issue I have with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is instead of ending after we find out what happened to Harriet, the movie persists in seeing the Swedish corporation fall and ends with the collapse of Mikael and Lisbeth's relationship. To me this is unnecessary, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo thinks I care far more about their relationship than I actually do. The relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth lacks a strong sense of chemistry as the character's dialogues between one another feel slightly forced and hollow.

In summary, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a decent movie with a brilliant performance from Mara and some fantastic scenes but suffers from bad pacing and a weak ending.
- GL


7 / 10


(Above) My favorite shot: 


(Below) Runners-up:





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