Showing at NuMetro: Män som hatar kvinnor (The girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

At first glance, 'The girl with the dragon Tattoo' will seem like an extremely inaccessible movie, something that will threaten  many mainstream audience members (some ignorant few will even get put off by the idea of watching a movie with subtitles). But after hearing the news that the movie will be showed at standard Nu-Metro cine's around the country, I started to have my doubts about how 'arty' this movie really is...

My doubts proved to be justified, as this Swedish beauty follows a relatively formulaic approach to the  mystery suspense/drama (as made famous by Hollywood), instantly reminding me of the work done by American Director, Ron Howard in the series of film adaptations of Dan Brown's Da Vinci code.

'The girl with the dragon Tattoo' however opts for a much safer central subject matter than that of 'Da Vinci code', resulting in a movie that is easier to follow, easier to get into, but at the same time, a little less profound. This, however proves to be the movie's greatest strength, as director Niels Arden Oplev balances his simple presence with a visceral level of graphical violence that gives the movie an impressive degree of poignancy. 

The movie's relatively safe subject matter also makes the movie premise (as well as the actual plot unravellings) totally believable, giving the director an ample amount of freedom to explore darker waters, (like the long-term effect of sexual abuse) without alienating the viewer. The movie must also be commended for its ability to keep itself from drowning in the finer details of the plot, as this has proven to be one of the biggest pitfalls of the mystery/suspense genre over the last few years.

Add to this almost perfect pacing, honest performances by the two leads (Noomi Rapace deserves special praise) and you get a movie that is extremely polished and enthralling. I truly hope that the movie does well at the local box office (it did horribly in the US), as I look forward to seeing this trilogy of films play itself out. 

* Not as good as David Fincher's 'Zodiac', but very close to it.

"You want to see my tattoo of a dragon, don't you?" 

Ranking: 4 Meerkat Tails (Subtract 4 if you can't be bothered to read subtitles)

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