The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) Film 5/50

"But I just had to look/Having read the book."

-Lennon/McCartney

So here comes my review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film version #1 (aka the version that doesn't star Daniel Craig). Fortunately, a good deal of what I disliked about the book (mainly the exhausting introduction of every character and three major plot points) was revised for this film adaptation. That being said, there were certainly alterations that made for a considerable difference in the portrayal of the lead characters. Take Mikael Blomkvist, for instance. In the book, his character slept with every female who threw herself at him. In the movie, his character was far more chaste, almost to the point of infantile at times. Not to mention being a bit of a dimwit in comparison to his literary depiction. I'm looking forward to seeing how Daniel Craig compares.

As for Lisbeth, her character gains strength as the film's Blomkvist takes a step back. And as the film eliminates minor characters (presumably to save time and interest), she takes on a more proactive role in the mystery investigation early on. The result makes for a somewhat more credible relationship between Blomkvist and Lisbeth than the book presented. Yet these "new" tasks Lisbeth takes on break from her character's mold. In fact, I had an extremely difficult time believing the film's device for bringing Lisbeth and Blomkvist together on this case. Once again, I'm curious to see how the 2011 version compare with regards to Rooney Mara's performance.

So here's my final breakdown as far as this film adaptation goes:

PROS:
Major cuts to less interesting pieces of the book (i.e. the majority of anything relating to Millenium magazine and the Wennerström affair), less obvious product placement compared to the book, and the fact the characters are actually Swedish. Yay for subtitles!

CONS:
The graphic rape scenes from the book are far more excruciating to watch than read (and they were painful to read, too), the constant nagging in my head that Daniel Craig will make a far superior Blomkvist than Michael Nyqvist's, and the complete overhaul of Blomkvist's character in general.

Quite curious to see the 2011 version now...