Beautiful cinematography only adds to the adaptation
10/10
Author: Sandy0095 from United States
18 March 2012

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I know when the announcement came that they were making an English version, groans began over the disregard for the Swedish originals. I can't say I blame them, how many times have I liked a series only to hear that they're completely rebooting the films. The cycle seems never-ending and it only gets worse when you see the remakes and they're just not as good, plain and simple. Thankfully with this new version, it isn't the case.

I've been a fan of David Fincher's since Fight Club but more recently with The Social Network. He just has this way of capturing moments that not only look beautiful, they feel really raw and emotional. This film is the perfect example of that as it follows Lisbeth Salander through her investigation of a multi- decade mystery. Not only is the film perfectly cast, with relative newcomer Rooney Mara, it's a pretty faithful adaptation to the literary version as well, with only a few minor changes and one major alteration fans may not expect.

Mara knocks it out of the park for me in this one. I know praise is deserved for original Noomi Rapace but I can't help feeling Mara really embodied Salander. Someone who wasn't a goth but a lost soul who can't connect to others. Daniel Craig plays off this perfectly as the charismatic reporter leading the aforementioned investigation. Unlike the Swedish version which stared Michael Nyqvist, I could really see Craig as the ladies man he often portrays on screen, but it's a hard contest for anyone, so no disrespect toward Nyqvist fans.

In short, the movie from start to finish is the perfect combination of great directing, story telling and acting. Is it hard to watch at times? Yes, but Fincher wouldn't be doing the book justice if he didn't include the good, bad and at times, the very ugly that made up the series. The story after all is in some ways more about Lisbeth's journey then the mystery itself. The journey from the powerless to the unknowingly powerful. My advice for any viewer would be to give the movie a chance, even if you're a devoted fan(FFFFffff) of the originals.This one might just surprise you.

Stellan Skarsgard : Martin Vanger

Watch this movie!
10/10
Author: Ianbiz from United States
6 March 2013

Great film, Great remake. Seriously, both the Swedish version and the American version were great and so were the books, do not listen to any critics. I know good films, and I know how seldom a good movie comes along among the usual garbage that is pumped out annually, the story is refreshing, the characters are intriguing, and you end up wanting more.

I believe this is a very capable franchise, and since the books themselves were so great and well read it would be very easy to give us more into the world of these fascinating characters. You may need to pay close attention to understand it, but it is without a doubt a classic, one of the few that is put out during the yearly one hundred or so crap films. That being said, to the writers and director, PLEASE MAKE MORE. Thank you, from a satisfied movie fan.

Trivia
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The piercings (including multiple ear, eyebrow, and nipple piercings) that Rooney Mara sports as Lisbeth Salander are real, not cosmetic simulations. Mara got the  piercings in a series of sessions in Brooklyn and Sweden. The ear, nose, eyebrow and lip piercings were removed after shooting completed, but she kept the right nipple  piercing for possible sequels. "It's not something I want to ever get repierced," she said. "So I'm going to keep it in."
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When the casting process started, the role of Lisbeth Salander was originally offered to Natalie Portman but she declined due to exhaustion. Scarlett Johansson was also considered but David Fincher considered her too sexy. Jennifer Lawrence was considered too, but she was rejected because she was too tall. Finally, Rooney Mara was cast.
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The film was released on December 20; exactly where the novel begins in chapter one.
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Daniel Craig gained weight for his role as Mikael Blomqvist to remind himself and the audience that he was portraying a journalist, not James Bond, and wanted to appear as normal as possible.
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Daniel Craig improvised catching the water bottle. David Fincher appreciated Craig's grace and left the take in the film.
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Stellan Skarsgård remarked that this was the first time in 20 years that he was able to sleep in his own bed while shooting a movie, since it was filmed in his hometown of Stockholm.
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Many Swedish critics questioned the choice to have many of the characters talk in "Swedish-accent". Most criticism was pointed to Mara's accent that many critics heard as Russian or Dutch and not Swedish at all. Daniel Craig admitted in an interview that he thought this was stupid and therefore used his real voice.
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In the Americas, the film's DVD was made to look like a "pirate" disc.
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While filming a scene in a diner, the cast and crew were surprised to find out that Ellen Nyqvist, daughter of Michael Nyqvist, the first actor to play Mikael Blomkvist, was working there as a waitress while attending school. Upon finding out, they wrote in a few extra lines for her, allowing her to interact with her father's successor, Daniel Craig.
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The movie was shot in Sweden during one of the coldest winters in over 20 years.
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Two of the movie's taglines: "Evil shall with evil be expelled" and "What is hidden in snow, comes forth in the thaw" are Swedish proverbs. Stellan Skarsgård, himself a Swede, told them to David Fincher during filming. Fincher liked them and thought they fitted the story and setting well, so he made them taglines for the movie.
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Max von Sydow, a genuine Swede, was the original choice to play Henrik Vanger, but had to bow out and was replaced by Christopher Plummer.
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The film opened at number three at the US box office, behind Mission: Impossible - Protocole fantôme (2011) and Sherlock Holmes - Jeu d'ombres (2011). Ghost Protocol featured Michael Nyqvist, and Game of Shadows featured Noomi Rapace, who respectively played Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander in the original Millénium, le film - Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes (2009).
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 Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were considered for the lead male role.
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When Lisbeth first visits Plague, Plague is wearing a black shirt with a white logo on it; the logo represents the band Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor is the founder of Nine  Inch Nails and wrote the score for this film with Atticus Ross as well as the score for director David Fincher previous film The Social Network (2010), for which Reznor and  Ross won "Best Original Score" at the 2011 Academy Awards.
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Daniel Craig originally turned down the role of Mikael Blomkvist due to possible conflicts with the next James Bond film Skyfall (2012). After production of the film was suspended Craig's schedule freed up and he retook the role.
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In 2008, Kathleen Kennedy, one of the producers of L'étrange histoire de Benjamin Button (2008), after giving some details of the plot asked David Fincher to read Stieg Larsson's book. Fincher responded by saying 'Kat, nobody is going to make this movie. You're just setting us up to be miserable again'. So he didn't read it.
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After discussions about how to best devise an original score for the movie, David Fincher consulted composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, ultimately deciding that dissonance and tinkling bells (no orchestra) should provide the motif/ambiance for the stark coldness of the Swedish landscape.
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Noomi Rapace's performance as Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish version of Millénium, le film - Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes (2009) was so well received, a campaign to have her reprise the role in the English language version gained wide attention in the media, championed by film critic Roger Ebert, among others. Ultimately Rapace declined to reprise the role, saying that after playing the character for three years (during the filming of the original film and its sequels), she couldn't play the role again in the same stories.(Tant mieux !) 
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The security office is actually the office building of Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE), the company which created the Battlefield computer games.
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David Fincher's physical requirement for actresses intended to play Lisbeth: approximately 5'5 tall, age median of 25.
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According to David Fincher the opening title sequence of the movie is a "sort of primordial sort of tar and ooze of the subconscious... sort of her nightmare."
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Shot in a period of 160 days. By contrast, Fight Club (1999), also directed by David Fincher and shot by Jeff Cronenweth took only 132 days. Cronenweth stated in several interviews that the large amount of time was mainly due to the lack of night time in Sweden - on-location sets required pre-lighting days ahead before shooting.
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David Dencik was also in the 2009 Swedish version, Millénium, le film - Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes (2009), but played another part.
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Jeff Cronenweth is formerly an understudy of the legendary Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Nykvist was famously known for his use of soft-lighting photography; Cronenweth stated that he shot a bulk of the film with soft-lighting as homage to him.
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In the director's audio commentary David Fincher discussed how a merkin was utilized for actress Rooney Mara, after she suggested to him that the character she portrayed in the movie was a natural red head in the book and actually dyed her hair black. Consequently, the merkin she wore was made in the color red.
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The film received two Golden Globe nominations on December 15, 2011, six days before the film's release date. Rooney Mara was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were nominated for Best Original Score.
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Carey Mulligan, Ellen Page, Kristen Stewart, Natalie Portman, Mia Wasikowska, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Thirlby, Emily Browning, Eva Green, Scarlett Johansson, Sophie Lowe, Sarah Snook, Léa Seydoux, Emma Watson, Evan Rachel Wood, and Katie Jarvis were among the actresses considered for the lead role. (Some actresses turned down the role; others were rejected by filmmakers and the studio) Ultimately, Rooney Mara won the coveted role of Lisbeth Salander. (parfait!)
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In September 2011, a trailer for Les Muppets, le retour (2011) was released that was a spoof of the teaser trailer of this movie.
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The full musical score was released on December 9, 2011. Seven days prior to the official release, composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross released a 6-track sampler of the score online for free. The download was also accompanied by a free 8-minute trailer for the film available via iTunes.
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Jeff Cronenweth replaced original cinematographer Fredrik Bäckar after eight weeks.
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This is David Fincher's sixth collaboration with Angus Wall, who previously won the Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar with his work in Fincher's The Social Network (2010).
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Back-to-back consecutive Academy Awards for Best Editing were won by Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for this film - they had won the Editing Oscar the previous year for The Social Network (2010).
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One of two 2011's film releases with Christopher Plummer and Goran Visnjic in the cast, the other film being Beginners (2010). Beginners was filmed in 2010 but released in 2011.

 
Cameo
 
Peter Haber:  Spokesperson for Wennerström in a brief news clip. Haber played Martin Vanger in the original Millénium, le film - Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes (2009).

Spoilers The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
 
Most of the bruising seen on Rooney Mara's body when she takes a shower is in fact real, the physicality of shooting the rape scene the day before resulted in countless bruises on the actress' wrists, neck and torso.
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Yorick van Wageningen was so disturbed after shooting the rape scene with Rooney Mara that he spent a whole day locked in his hotel room, crying.
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In one of the more harrowing scenes in the film, Martin Vanger has Mikael Blomkvist bound and he switches the music on. The music playing is the song 'Orinoco Flow' by Enya. This choice came about after discussion on the scene when Daniel Craig flicked through his iPod and called out the first song he found, which was initially met with a lot of laughter.

 
Pure Fincher. Great adaption.
10/10
Author: r-w-h-j from United States
18 December 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Anyone who knows David Finchers work knows he is one of the most creative and talented directors of this generation. He blew everyones mind with his adaption of 'Fight Club' almost 15 years ago, and again with his masterpiece of a film 'Se7en'. Speaking of Se7en, this is probably Finchers best effort since that film. All of his movies are amazing in their own respect, but this one will be one of the films that everyone will remember him for.

The opening titles use Trent Reznors(amazing man from the one man band Nine Inch Nails)reinvented version of Led Zeppelins 'Immigrant Song' with Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer on vocals (I think?). This will remind many people of Se7ens creepy beginning. One more comparison to Se7en, is the forensic CSI type detective work done throughout the film. Truly a great homage to himself.

Now like many have said, this is not a remake. This is an adaption of a book. I kind of dislike when people get those two mixed up. If I adapted Bram Stokers Dracula into a film, would it be a remake of the hundreds of previous Dracula movie attempts? I digress. David Finchers version sticks closer to the novel than the Swedish version did. I do however love the Swedish version and didn't think I would love an American version more, which I do. There were only two American directors I would have voted for the job, and they were David Fincher or Christopher Nolan.

Now for everyone thinking this is a Hollywood adaption and that all of the rawness of the Swedish version is toned down then they couldn't be more wrong. This is at times more raunchy and sadistic than the Swedish version. It is even slightly longer since it incorporates more from the book. There are more sex scenes (for the people who didn't read the book and like that kind of thing in a movie). There is a lot of detailed smart and important dialog. Most of the film relies on the talking and conversations between the characters.

Many will find this boring, but dare I compare it to Se7en again? Yeah its like that. The actors and actresses do a nice job and are all believable. Daniel Craig pulled off the role perfectly. If you think about it, he kinda looks like the actor that played in the Swedish version.Rooney Mara made art with her performance as the now infamous Lisbeth SalanderI didn't think anybody could beat the performance from Noomi Rapace from the Swedish version. Both were amazing but Rooney slightly surpassed Noomis performance.

I just hope she can work with it again in the next films of the series. Rooney has already gotten Golden Globe recognition and I hope to see her name at the Oscars. I hope this movie gets recognized with the directing at the Academy too. The visual style of this movie is pure eye candy movie art. The Cinematography is also worth mentioning. Even if you haven't read the book or haven't seen the Swedish version, this film is a near masterpiece.

The rape scene is there and it is as vulgar and uncomfortable as ever. It will surely have trouble staying in some theaters because of some of the nastier and darker graphic scenes. The way a lot of the grotesque makes you have to use your imagination is also used. This movie will make you think and hate people that abuse women or any type of helpless human being. Many people will walk out on the abusive scene.