Dragon Tattoo: Swedish and U.S.

You know, I really don't understand why the U.S. cinema has to remake films that have already been made in different countries. Maybe it has something to do with money or maybe someone really wants to give another artistic twist to something that is already great? I'm really not sure. However, I must admit that I really enjoyed both the Swedish and U.S. versions of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It also seemed like the U.S. wasn't trying to do something the Swedish didn't do. The story is just so awesome that everyone wants to add their artistic spin to it. I have yet to read the book version, which is odd because I usually read the book version before watching the film version. The book starts off very slow, but judging from both film versions, the plot must really take off once it gets to a certain point. I will read these books!

Dragon Tattoo is full of chilling suspense and mystery, following the thorough investigation of the disappearance of an uncle's favorite niece, Harriet Vanger, and the gradual exposure of a dark family secret. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist-Swedish and Daniel Craig-U.S.), a recently disgraced journalist, and Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace-Swedish and Rooney Mara-U.S.), an extremely intelligent and skilled computer hacker, are both hired to investigate the case. The two are a power team, both with different strengths and very different lifestyles, their differences are what allow them to collaborate so well.

Although Mikael seems to occupy the majority of the screen time, Lisbeth is the most important and interesting character. This should evident given the title of the film and the trilogy, of course, but that doesn't mean that Mikael isn't important to the story as well. Lisbeth has had a very difficult life, which is why she appears to be odd and off-putting to some people. Given how she has been treated by others, especially her father, past psychiatrist, and current "caretaker," it's not very surprising that she doesn't generally warm up to people right away. Not because she fears the people, she just has to decide how to take care of them if they happen to treat her badly. Lisbeth is one tough girl, she has no problem bending the rules when need be, nor is she afraid to stick up for herself. She's a spectacular character.

Everyone gives their all to their performance in both versions of Dragon Tattoo. I'll admit that sometimes I have problems sitting comfortably throughout an entire film, but I found that I was able to sit and watch these films without losing my interest at any point throughout either of them. That's really saying something because both are over 2.5 hours long. The story is engaging, the cinematography is beautiful, and the score is awesome. As a warning to some of you, there are some very brutal scenes in both versions of this film, which could easily upset you, a man next to me actually got up and left because of one of these scenes in particular. I'll admit, it's difficult to watch these scenes, but it's not like the film mainly consists of scenes that are too horrible to watch. Overall, Dragon Tattoo is awesome and should not be missed.

I LOVE the opening title sequence! It looks cool and the music is sweet.