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The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Time Out rating

Average user rating

31 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

The original title of the Stieg Larsson novel which became, in translation, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ was ‘Men Who Hate Women’: a blunt but fitting description of this angry, intelligent but curiously uninvolving Swedish shaggy dog story. The film sees down-at-heel, crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) hired by industrialist Henrik Vanger to look into the disappearance of his beloved niece more than 30 years before. Blomkvist’s quest is intercut with the story of Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a bisexual ex-con cyberpunk computer hacker (only in Sweden!) at the mercy of a corrupt, sexually deviant parole officer.

Throughout this beautifully photographed, skilfully constructed film there’s a sense we’re skimming lightly over Larsson’s characters and themes. Blomkvist is the putative hero, but his investigative journey is a little too familiar, his character too clean-cut to be compelling. It’s Salander who holds the attention: superbly played by Rapace, she’s a grim, spectral presence in the opening scenes, before she’s pushed too far and explodes in a moment of shocking, vengeful violence.

Such scenes place ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ above the extended TV mystery it easily could have become, but explicit violence only takes you so far. At heart this is a traditional thriller, down to a series of convenient and underwhelming last-act revelations. For fans of Larsson’s books this could be the highlight of the cinemagoing year – for the rest of us it’s a solid, enjoyable but emotionally unengaging detective story.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2064: 11– 17 March, 2010

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User reviews of this film

Nicholas said...

Posted on Jan 29 2012 17:44 I agree with the reviewers overall assessment of the movie.
And I agree with others dislike of the intense rape scene, there's an awful tendency to err on the side of being explicit in movies generally, when the violence could just as easily inferred. I stayed through the movie as a courtesy to my date, but had I been alone I would have left.

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Charissa said...

Posted on Jan 19 2012 19:01 I really enjoyed watching this film from the beginning to the end..but I will say is the rape sence was too much!! Overall I would

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Mike said...

Posted on Jan 04 2012 23:41 By far and away this is the superior version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Not only is the storyline better, but the script is tighter, the acting excellent, and the photography far, far superior. I saw this film shortly after it was released in 2010, and saw Fincher’s stab at it last week. This (Oplev) version wins hands down, and was worth the purchase on DVD. Four stars.

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deec said...

Posted on Jan 03 2012 22:44 Thoroughly engrossed for 2.5 hours. Really good film. I had to watch this before seeing the american remake and I hope they can do it as well as the swedish. Well worth watching!

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therese said...

Posted on Jan 02 2012 21:27 Just saw this movie, and like Ben I felt the rape scene was way too much. We could have used our imagination as to what happened if the door had just closed. I had not read the book and im glad i didnt. It was such an average 'thriller', lost all interest towards the end.

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Ben said...

Posted on Dec 28 2011 00:29 Why the f**k am I the only one here who seems to think the rape scene was WAY WAYYY too much? I left the theatre and got my money back after that! Am I the only sane person here?

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theatre goer said...

Posted on Dec 27 2011 16:45 OVERRATED.....slow & predictable......just like Congress....just doen't get it

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Paul Cross said...

Posted on Oct 25 2011 19:07 The book the girl with... is excellent, in translation, the film is a different country. Seeing the film alone may have been the only way to like it. Hope the new film gets closer to the book

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Peter Kent said...

Posted on Sep 17 2010 08:48 People keep defending this film as "great escapism" but to work as escapism (for me), it has to be believable. And I found none of the characters or situations in this at all believable. Pure comic-book characterisation topped up with graphic sex and violence. The TO reviewer says it is an "intelligent" film. Where? How? Film and TV makers sprinkle child sex abuse and corrupt big business into their scripts like so much seasoning these days but I think it's just laziness.
This film is a mediocre Hollywood wanna-be.

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Mike said...

Posted on Aug 31 2010 18:10 Loved it as much as the book. I'm stunned that Hollywood's going to make a version - why? Do Americans have that much of a problem with subtitles? They'll have a real problem matching the quality of Noomi Rapace's acting, and ditto the rest of the cast. Well-paced thriller. Well worth a ticket - and a second viewing.

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Petal said...

Posted on Aug 08 2010 13:01 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is on the verge of being a very, very good, thrilling film. However, the ending skims very quickly over earlier twists in the plotline and you are left without adequate answers to some of the most engaging parts of the story, which leaves you feeling nothing short of disappointed.

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Sunny Guy said...

Posted on Apr 26 2010 22:06 > dont let the fact that it has subtitles put you off.
Mostly I have to let the fact that a film doesn't have subtitles not put me off. Your mileage may vary.
Sunny Guy

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Jayne m said...

Posted on Apr 17 2010 13:59 I really enjoyed this film, dont let the fact that it has subtitles put you off. I generally prefer to read the book before seeing the film as they are usually better. I will be reading all the books as i found this film brilliant & gripping. The girl who played Lisbeth was a very good actress

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thomg said...

Posted on Apr 01 2010 23:00 In cutting the book down to a filmable size this film has jettisoned most of the character complexity that made the book a worthwhile read. I also thought altering the tone of the villain's end a serious dramatic mistake given the films central premise (the danger of psychopathic misogynist men in society in general). The film also sufferers from too much design; the actors barely get a chance to do more than say a couple of words or grimace before the scene changes. On the plus side at least they have had a reasonable go at rendering Lisbeth Salander.

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kris said...

Posted on Mar 30 2010 06:08 I liked the movie quite a bit, particularly the part with the angry Swedish woman running after the SUV and bashing it with a golf club. (sounds familiar, I don't know why...)
I thought the rape scenes were terrible though. With so much, so-called complexity, the rape scenes were very fake hollywood. Do you think real acquaintance rape is that violent? No. It was portrayed that way so the viewer would have no doubts about the innocence of the heroine, lisbeth. Kinda disappointing.
Otherwise fun movie. Who knew I could understand so much Swedish.

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