Mikael Blomkivst, played by Daniel Craig, is a journalist who has just lost a libel case against a wealthy businessman and is forced to pay a hefty fine, draining his life's savings. Enter Christopher Plummer, a retired industrial mongul who hires the disgraced journalist to investigate the forty year old murder of his grand-niece. Aiding in this quest is the talented yet troubled hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). Right about this point the reviewer is supposed to add something about how they embark on a dark and twisted journey, but truth is, the two main characters don't officially meet until after the one hour mark. But let's take things from the top.

You have your classic murder mystery on one hand, where all the suspects are ideally located on the same small private island, owned by the same all-powerful Vanger clan who hired the investigative journalist. Secrets run amok as it is the case with families; nazi ties, incest, the likes. Parallel to all this, is the hacker who helped the Vanger lawyer at the beginning of the film to do a background check on Daniel Craig's character. Tattooed and pierced, with her eye-brows bleached, and an antisocial personality keeping everyone at distance, we learn that Salander is in the care of the state because of her violent past. To complete the mix of a feel-bad Christmas movie, she is raped by her social worker in an intense and graphic scene. Needless to say she pays him back with the same coin in an even more visceral scene.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an adaptation of the Swedish best selling novel "Men Who Hate Women", and it has been adapted once already in its own country in 2009. So this is not a remake, because remaking a movie that is only 3 years old would seem a bit redundant, and it would also be taking the piss out of all those jokes that have foreign films flopping in American theatres because of subtitles. Comparison and criticism between the two movies seems inevitable but to compare two adaptations seems unfair, since the one was sponsored by the Swedish government and the other by Hollywood that can buy the Swedish government and sell it for props.

Director David Fincher adds his own unique touch from the very beginning, with an extreme surreal montage playing under the tune of Led Zeppelin's "Immigration Song", on ecstasy. Male and female figures covered in a black grimy substance, epileptic sequences of violence and sensuality blend together to set the pace of the thriller that will follow. With an experimental soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross befit of the coldest winter in 20 years, Fincher manages a perfect balance of beautiful scenery and shots against the bleak reality the characters inhabit. Using a split narrative between the two heroes, the director makes a point of portraying each character performing their roles, their functions on their own but when they join up the dynamics instead of changing or becoming distorted, seem even stronger. There is a minimalistic approach of story telling which does not shove any of the heroes' personality flaws in your face. Instead with subtle elements, the characters (especially Lisbeth) are fleshed out in a good round way of understanding, from beginning to end.

Judging the film on its own, without comparing it neither to the book or to the previous film, I have but one important criticism. The story takes place in Sweden, and all the characters are Swedish, evident by their names. The shops have names in Swedish also, and most of this year's newspaper titles. When someone calls a number and they can't get reception, a nice Swedish lady comes on the phone and tells them in Swedish that there is no signal, before telling them in English. So if all these stand, why is every single actor in the movie, save Daniel Craig, talking in English using a Swedish accent? Nitpicking, definitely, but it was one of the negative things that stood out. Also, what's up with the dragon tattoo? The Swedish one was cool, this one looks like it was taken out of an 80s heavy metal album cover.

Nevertheless, the film is another gem in Fincher's repertoire of dark and engaging films, filled with intense scenes and complicated characters. The ensemble cast manages to portray people with their own obsessions and flaws, paying attention to the emotions that they show but more importantly to the ones they don't show, adding a certain eerie emptiness that is prevalent in this two hours plus mystery rifled with gruesome depiction of violence against women.