The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Expectations:
When I first heard about these books being turned into movies, I was a bit leery to watch. I thought it might be a bit intense, and I knew the rape scene was in the movie, which just kinda freaked me out. I certainly didn't wanna see that. But, the trailer was extremely enticing, and I love a good mystery thriller that really makes you think. A lot of Oscar hype has been swarming around this movie, which usually means it will at least have a good storyline and characters. David Fincher, who directed The Social Network last year, is a phenomenal director. Rooney Mara just looked exciting and intriguing with the hair and piercing thing going on. Now that I have named all of this stuff, I don't understand why I doubted myself in watching The Dragon Tattoo...

Plot:
As I said, I love a good, thrilling mystery, which is what I expected with this movie. The entire movie revolved around the Vanger family, that had a family member who was murdered like thirty years ago. The family was at odds with one another, so Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) hired an investigative journalist named Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to settle the mystery of the murder and figure out who the murderer was. The main storyline revolves around Mikael, and eventually Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), investigating the Vanger family and the murder. Now, I certainly enjoyed the storyline and the investigation, but I felt like the ending to the investigation was a bit boring. I wanted to be blown of my feet, and I just felt like I was watching a good episode of CSI or something, which was very disappointing.

Best Scene: There is a scene where Lisbeth gets back at the man who rapes her, and it is serious and funny at the same time. She is extremely clever. I wouldn't mess with her.

Characters:
The characters in this movie absolutely made the movie. Daniel Craig was great as Mikael, and, of course Mara was extremely great as Lisbeth. There were also many good actors that played members of the Vanger family, such as Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard. The relationship between all of the characters was very good, especially between Lisbeth and Mikael. Their relationship was very unpredictable and awkward at times, but they were just so much fun to watch.

Best Character: Lisbeth Salander, played by Rooney Mara, was the obvious choice for best character. Although I didn't expect it, Mikael was kind of the main character. He was great, but the movie was at it's best only when Mara was on screen. Most times she didn't even have to say anything. She was just that mysterious and intriguing.

Worst Character: Bjurman, played by Yorick van Wageningen, was the man who raped Lisbeth. He was her assigned state employee, who dealt with getting her money, because she was declared mentally incompetent. He wasn't awful, but he just didn't quite seem creepy enough or something.

Conclusion:
I certainly don't know how the movie is compared to the books, because I don't read, but I do know that you can't really blame the lame ending to the investigation on director David Fincher or the screenwriters. Aside from that lame ending, this movie is phenomenal. Great characters and great mystery makes for a great movie. The relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth becomes a great focus in the movie and really is intriguing, which adds an extra element to the film. The rape scene was very intense, but it was necessary in building the character up, in my opinion at least. I don't think this movie is a best picture kind of movie, but I enjoyed it. I really do want to know what happens next, but I doubt I will make the effort to read the books, due to my literature laziness. I give The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 3.56 out of 5 stars.