Thursday the 5th of January 2012
Aging tycoon Henrik Vanger (Plummer) hires talented but anti-social investigator Lisbeth Salander (Mara) to conduct an extensive background check on Mikael Blomkvist (Craig), a journalist who just lost a libel suit brought against him by corrupt businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström. Satisfied with the results, Vanger promises Blomkvist damning information Wennerström in exchange for Blomkvist investigating the disappearance and presumed murder of Vanger's grandniece, Harriet, some 40 years earlier. Blomkvist moves to the family's island compound, where he uncovers a cryptic notebook and a host of suspects. Salander, meanwhile, suffers horrible abuse at the hands of her latest state appointed guardian, which she records using a hidden camera in her bag. At their next meeting she exacts a brutal revenge and full control of her inheritance. Back at the compound, Blomkvist struggles with the notebook, and Vanger's lawyer suggests Salander might be able to help, based on the work she did investigating Blomkvist. Together, Blomkvist and Salander discover a connection to a twenty year long series of murders that point to a member of the Vanger family and place Blomkvist in mortal danger.
Things start so well, with a James Bond-esque credit sequence followed by location photography so perfect you'd think director David Fincher personally arranged every flake of snow. The performances are all solid, and the production remains slick and impressive throughout, but the script, which reeks of studio notes, only gives us one plausible suspect and so we spend the next two hours waiting for a Keyser Söze reveal that never comes. This should have been Fincher's take on giallo, but instead this remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) is just disappointing.
seen via AMC Tysons Corner 16