Sex crimes form the main factor of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but those hideous acts only take up a few minutes of screen time. The real story is fueled by information: Who controls it, who owns it, what’s private, what’s public, how is it hidden, when does memory fail and hard copy triumph?
Investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig) and goth hacker Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara) pour through dusty photographs, Bibles, old proof sheets, Google searches, diaries, receipts and corporate records stashed in giant warehouses in order to find out what happened to an heiress who vanished in the 1960s.
Through the movie you manage to get confused, then think you know the answer, then confused again. It is a sick cycle of confusion and trying to figure out the conclusion to the mystery you had been learning more and more about for the 2.5 hour film.
The film has an affair developing between Craig and Mara that is more straightforward. Lots of blood, gruesome picture, sex, and violence is in this film, making is full of action and keeping you on your toes. There is also a patch three-quarters of the way through when the director appears to let go of the twisting story. All the same, he uses the Swedish environment well, whether the icy coast or the cold minimalism of Stockholm.
This movie was very entertaining and makes me want to read the book, along with the series to find out more about the girl with the dragon tattoo.
