Review - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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Murder, revenge and mystery are all wonderful starting points for any story. A slow pace, drawn out scene, or an abrupt finale are horrible ways to end a story too. The Swedish film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is guilty of all of the above. Going into this film completely blind to it's marketing or even story, I left the film wanting more content in less time.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at it's core is really quite an interesting story. And why shouldn't it be? Based on a worldwide bestselling book the film has great groundwork laid out for it. The actors are all unknowns (at least in Canada) and the film is set on a beautiful island.

Regrettably, none of the things mentioned above seem to be taken advantage of by the filmmaker. I hear that the film's story is pretty close to the books. The movie is rather drawn out (perhaps for effect) but I found it quite slow with an abrupt finale. The film could have easily been rated R, with some graphic and unnecessarily long scenes. More editing could have done this film wonders.

I was prepared to like this film. I had zero expectations coming into it and I had no idea that it is a book series. Sadly the negatives really outweigh the positives of this film for me, and I'd probably have a tough time recommending this foreign film to anyone. Emo kids, foreign film enthusiasts or people who love the books may enjoy this movie, but none of those people are me. I'm just a guy who likes to watch movies and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will not be one I will ever watch again.

1/5

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