Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Girl With the not so visible Dragon Tattoo

Hey there people! It has been a while since I have posted...But now I am here to talk to you guys about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.




For the sake of my sanity, I will now refer to this movie as Dragon Tattoo from here on out! This film is a thriller that was released in December 2011, directed by David Fincher(director for some of my favorites such as Fight Club and Alien 3) with screenplay adapted by Steven Zaillian. The adaptation, as you can see from the trailer, is from the novel of the same title written by Stieg Larsson. Seeing that this is an adaptation based of the novel and not based on the swedish film that was released in 2009, I don't think this qualifies as a re-make.
Well enough of that, what is the story about? Why do I always see people reading this book in the street? Is it all HYPE!? Well viewers, if you like thinking, sex and great character development, this is not just hype. It is a fantastic film.
One of the most important things in a film, to me, is the flow of the film. Dragon Tattoo definitely has a great flow. The length of this movie is close to 3(three, tres) hours long. When a film with poor flow is that long, you feel the length. The only reason I started feeling the length of this movie towards the end was because, like a jack ass, I drank 40 oz. of vitamin water during the movie. I had to use the bathroom so bad towards the end! So the director was able to create a flow that allowed the events of the book play out naturally and entertaining....unlike my writing!
Another great aspect of this film is the acting. I would also like to pair the acting up with chemistry between the actors. I have not read the book so I can't tell if it was due to the director's or the writer's ability that there is such great chemistry between the characters and how the acting totally compliments that. I have not seen something like Daniel Craig's relationship with Rooney Mara in the film since Leon: The Professional. I also must say that Rooney Mara is one bold female actor. She appears nude many times, has around 3 sex scenes and has a few "action" scenes.
Then there is the extraordinary character development. Almost every single significant character in this film is fully developed. Some more than others, but the one's with less development have received the necessary amount of development. Heck even a cat has character development in this film. It is also used as a plot device in some instances.
The acting, flow and character development are great and all but the main thing that got me hooked on the film was how it almost felt interactive. The film's main plot is that Daniel Craig's character(Mikael) was hired to find a murderer. Mikael is then given all of the clues that have been compiled and you as the viewer watch him sort through the clues along side Rooney Mara(Lisbeth). When ever they have a break through, if you were keen enough, you picked up on the break through as well. You only know as much as the investigators know. You are not given additional information that is not picked up by the protagonists. It almost reminds me of another film released in 2011 titled Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, in which you are fed information in the same way but you get even less information. Honestly, in both of those films, I got a little lost but was able to understand the ending. They will definitely be watched again via blu-ray!
All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. Half way through the movie I found myself smiling, nodding and telling myself that this is a good film. When you watch as many films as I do, good films are hard to come by nowadays. Sure you can get an entertaining movie that has a beginning, middle and end. But Dragon Tattoo is one of those films that give you a movie and adds flavor to it that will leave an impression on you that lasts longer than 50 feet away from the cinema exit.

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