The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Synopsis
Two story lines mingle in this Swedish cold case movie. Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist that was set up for a crime. After being found guilty, he is contacted by the former head of the Vanger family to solve the mystery of his niece's death in the 1960's.
Lisbeth is a hacker working for a security company. She was responsible for investigating  Mikael Blomkvist, and doesn't sever her ties to his computer when she is finished.
Together, they try to solve the mystery of Harriet's murder and uncover a series of violent murders that may be related to her death.

Review
I attempted to read the novel this movie was based on, however, I found the book to be very slow going and eventually gave up. While at times the pace of the movie echoes the book, the development of the case still keeps you involved. The original name of the book was "Men Who Hate Women" which, while less attention grabbing than the current title is certainly accurate. This movie is dark, graphic, and intense. There are scenes of graphic rape and violent crimes. Not to mention, the movie is long.
I really liked the character of Lisbeth. She is vibrant, mysterious, and aggressive. Physically, most of her femininity is gone, but she is a Valkyrie at heart. Mikael seems to be more of a foil to Lisbeth than a developed character. He is more of a faceless "good guy" than an actual person.
Overall, the movie was different than I expected, in a more violent rape kind of way. It actually makes me want to read the rest of the series, if not watch the movies.

My Recommendation
While I'm not entirely sure if I liked the movie, I liked that it made me think. Parts of it certainly made me uncomfortable. I don't recommend this for anyone under 18, even then, I would still think about if you really want to see it.  3/5 - Rent it/ Borrow it