The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - US Version

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a fantastic book about a young woman so completely failed by the government social services that were there to protect her and how she manages to make something of herself.  The first in a trilogy of books (and I am sure US produced films too) chronicling her life and the insane life she has had interlinked with controversial journalist Mikael Blomqvist.

This first film starts by Blomqvist (Daniel Craig) being asked to solve a family murder in one of the richest and most famous families is Sweden, the Vanger family.  He recruits Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to be his researcher in the crime as she is an amazing hacker.  What ensues is a mad trip around the past through Nazism, conglomerate history, secret politics and social services to come to a dramatic conclusion of epic proportions.

The book is amazing, the Swedish films are amazing and incredibly faithful to the book.  When I first heard that Fincher would be making a version of the Millennium series, I was sceptical.  Being a huge fan of both the books and Swedish films, I can’t help but defend the originals at all times.  In a seemingly never-ending age of constant remakes, I didn’t have high hopes for this Americanised version.  And I was right.  Fincher’s version of the film is pointless.  They took the story, put it in Sweden, placed American and English actors in it, all unable to do the accent and all walked around with funny voices (except Craig who was only capable of doing his own accent).  None of the characters were believable, all the actors were stereotypically cast (what the hell is Jim Robinson doing in there?) and the opening credits.....?!?!?  Don’t get me started on how unbelievably over sexed they were.  This film is about how sex is so violently used against a person in the most graphically violent ways possible, and they make the opening credits look like a Bond opening sequence?!!?!  It missed the complete point of the story and the original books.

I was also a little offended by the poster before the film was released of Daniel Craig with an arm around a topless Rooney Mara, exposing her breasts with pierced nipples.   This poster doesn't reflect the characters at all.  Salander's character would never stand in such a pose that over sexualised herself like that.  I know that's a bit pedantic of me, but it just isn't accurate and instead they tried to paint a different picture of the film that would appeal to a very different type of audience.

They should have taken the story, set it in the US and I may have found it interesting.  Instead, this crazy ‘homage’ was a massive failure.  Don’t bother people.  Go watch the original, or better yet read the books.