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Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor) (2009)
I finally got around to watching the original film adaptation of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or Men Who Hate Women, as the original title literally translates into. Spoilers.
Story
I had read the book and watched the English language adaptation of the book, so I wasn't surprised when it came to the story.
The story went along as I expected. The main mystery was the Harriet Vanger disappearance. The story was bookended by the two main characters' backgrounds. Mikael was fighting a libel lawsuit against a powerful corporation, and Lisbeth's story was itself a mystery.
Having read the trilogy, I do know that the next two mysteries focus on Lisbeth's background, so I know that we'll learn more about the various loose ends we saw in the film, such as Lisbeth's crime of arson as a child, as well as her relationship with her mother.
The movie was pretty long. It was 2.5 hours, but I think that was probably necessary in order to have Mikael and Lisbeth go through the important clues one by one at a logical pace and sequence.
Characters
Mikael Blomkvist
I felt that this version of Mikael seemed friendlier and more open. He seemed to warm up to Lisbeth quite quickly in my opinion. He wasn't one to hide his emotions, when it came to Lisbeth, his friends, his coworkers, and the press.
If I remember correctly, the original book and/or the English adaptation included more about Mikael's divorce, his relationship with his daughter, and his romantic relationship with one of the fellow editors at Millennium. We did see a short moment between that coworker, but it wasn't an important piece of information at all for this instalment of the trilogy.
Lisbeth Salander
I think Lisbeth Salander was one of Noomi Rapace's first big roles. I thought that her Lisbeth was scary and cunning, but not so much that it made her hard to work with.
When Mikael brought up Lisbeth's photographic memory, she was upset and went to be alone, but she didn't do anything other than provoke a sense of curiosity about her. So in general, her personality was milder than you might expect of someone with her striking appearance.
Henrik Vanger
He contracted Mikael to dig into Harriet's disappearance and murder. The entire time, he seemed a kindly man who just missed his niece.
Martin Vanger
Martin was revealed to be a serial sadist and killer, but was actually not responsible for Harriet's disappearance. What's frightening about Martin was that his father had taught him how to kill and torture women, and Martin not only heeded his father, but embraced it. Harriet said that Martin was crueler than her father, which is pretty scary.
Gottfried, Martin and Harriet's father, was a Nazi and a lot of his original murders were tied back to religious references, which is what put Harriet, as well as Mikael and Lisbeth onto that lead. Martin insisted that it was better to leave religion and politics out of it and that was probably how he managed to evade suspicion all these years.
Martin also told Mikael that earlier when they were having dinner, he'd had a girl locked up in a cage, which shows how long Martin's been murdering women for. Martin treated it as a hobby, but it really, truly was sick. It's even more frightening to think about how Martin had hidden all of this from his wife all these years.
He got into a car accident after trying to drive away from Lisbeth. He was crushed by his car and Lisbeth saw it fit that he burned to death. For all of the torture and murder he committed in his life, this was not even close to equal retribution, but Lisbeth wasn't going to help that man in any circumstances.
Harriet Vanger
Harriet escaped the island with the help of her cousin Anita. She ended up as far away from Sweden as possible, in Australia of all places. I suppose it was the only thing she could do to escape the Vanger Corporation, which was presumably pretty big and far-reaching.
Overall
I wasn't wowed by the movie but I'm not saying it was terrible. If I hadn't known the story, I think I'd be more impressed. Other than that, I think the acting and the cinematography were fine. They conveyed the story well enough.
Overall, I'd recommend this movie for those who don't know the story. As for those who do know the story, I'd still recommend it as a fun mystery flick.
Story
I had read the book and watched the English language adaptation of the book, so I wasn't surprised when it came to the story.
The story went along as I expected. The main mystery was the Harriet Vanger disappearance. The story was bookended by the two main characters' backgrounds. Mikael was fighting a libel lawsuit against a powerful corporation, and Lisbeth's story was itself a mystery.
Having read the trilogy, I do know that the next two mysteries focus on Lisbeth's background, so I know that we'll learn more about the various loose ends we saw in the film, such as Lisbeth's crime of arson as a child, as well as her relationship with her mother.
The movie was pretty long. It was 2.5 hours, but I think that was probably necessary in order to have Mikael and Lisbeth go through the important clues one by one at a logical pace and sequence.
Characters
Mikael Blomkvist
I felt that this version of Mikael seemed friendlier and more open. He seemed to warm up to Lisbeth quite quickly in my opinion. He wasn't one to hide his emotions, when it came to Lisbeth, his friends, his coworkers, and the press.
If I remember correctly, the original book and/or the English adaptation included more about Mikael's divorce, his relationship with his daughter, and his romantic relationship with one of the fellow editors at Millennium. We did see a short moment between that coworker, but it wasn't an important piece of information at all for this instalment of the trilogy.
Lisbeth Salander
I think Lisbeth Salander was one of Noomi Rapace's first big roles. I thought that her Lisbeth was scary and cunning, but not so much that it made her hard to work with.
When Mikael brought up Lisbeth's photographic memory, she was upset and went to be alone, but she didn't do anything other than provoke a sense of curiosity about her. So in general, her personality was milder than you might expect of someone with her striking appearance.
Henrik Vanger
He contracted Mikael to dig into Harriet's disappearance and murder. The entire time, he seemed a kindly man who just missed his niece.
Martin Vanger
Martin was revealed to be a serial sadist and killer, but was actually not responsible for Harriet's disappearance. What's frightening about Martin was that his father had taught him how to kill and torture women, and Martin not only heeded his father, but embraced it. Harriet said that Martin was crueler than her father, which is pretty scary.
Gottfried, Martin and Harriet's father, was a Nazi and a lot of his original murders were tied back to religious references, which is what put Harriet, as well as Mikael and Lisbeth onto that lead. Martin insisted that it was better to leave religion and politics out of it and that was probably how he managed to evade suspicion all these years.
Martin also told Mikael that earlier when they were having dinner, he'd had a girl locked up in a cage, which shows how long Martin's been murdering women for. Martin treated it as a hobby, but it really, truly was sick. It's even more frightening to think about how Martin had hidden all of this from his wife all these years.
He got into a car accident after trying to drive away from Lisbeth. He was crushed by his car and Lisbeth saw it fit that he burned to death. For all of the torture and murder he committed in his life, this was not even close to equal retribution, but Lisbeth wasn't going to help that man in any circumstances.
Harriet Vanger
Harriet escaped the island with the help of her cousin Anita. She ended up as far away from Sweden as possible, in Australia of all places. I suppose it was the only thing she could do to escape the Vanger Corporation, which was presumably pretty big and far-reaching.
Overall
I wasn't wowed by the movie but I'm not saying it was terrible. If I hadn't known the story, I think I'd be more impressed. Other than that, I think the acting and the cinematography were fine. They conveyed the story well enough.
Overall, I'd recommend this movie for those who don't know the story. As for those who do know the story, I'd still recommend it as a fun mystery flick.