The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Recently watched: taken on its own, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a slick, suspenseful, engaging bit of film-making from master craftsman David Fincher. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are on top form as the sleuthing odd couple, and visually the movie is never less than stunning. Perhaps the film’s biggest problem is its protracted ending, but then this is somewhat inevitable given that it’s the first part of a trilogy. Compared with the original 2009 Swedish movie, it looks more polished, and it cuts out some of the awkwardness, including the coldly ambiguous relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth, which I actually quite liked. Craig and Mara’s relationship is much more conventional and straightforward and boring, which is a shame, but apparently this is closer to the book, so what do I know?