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After reading the book (and the five star review in Empire magazine), I had very high hopes for this movie - and I certainly wasn't disappointed. This dark tale of family secrets, murder, sex and corruption is beautifully shot and masterfully acted, and kept me gripped throughout the 152 minute runtime.
The basic plot begins with disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) being forced by circumstance to take up the long-abandoned case of Harriet Vanger, who disappeared in the late sixties. Lisbeth Salander (Naomi Rapace) is hired to do a background check on Blomkvist prior to his being hired, becomes intrigued by the story and is drawn into the mystery, spotting an integral and previously unrecognised link amongst the vast quantity of seemingly useless evidence Blomkvist is presented with. The two join forces, uncovering dark secrets in the Vanger family history and links to a string of gruesome murders stretching back to the forties.
Lisbeth makes for an incredible heroine, bringing "tormented" and "morally ambiguous" to impressive new levels. Vicious, crazy, socially inept and extraordinarily smart - all are words which could be used to describe her but after seeing the way she deals with her abusive guardian, I don't think any of them can quite do her justice. Some of her actions are harrowing to watch - but as someone who's become sick of skinny blonde damsels-in-distress, I'd love to see more women like her in films.
With such a forceful partner, it would be easy for Blomkvist to be overshadowed - but Nyqvist does an admirably subtle job of portraying his sarcastic nature. Plague (Tomas Kohler), one of Lisbeth's hacker friends, also deserves a mention for bringing a lighter character into the mix and drawing more than one laugh from the crowd.
While fans of the book should adore the film, I did wonder how easy it would be for someone who hasn't read them to follow the plot. The Vanger family is huge and although the relevant members are all described and named more than once and the relationships between them explained, I heard at least one man having to explain to his companion who the killer was.
The second instalment, The Girl Who Played with Fire, has already been shot, and promises to give more information on Lisbeth's backstory (already hinted at in several intriguing flashbacks) and I can't wait. In the meantime, if you haven't jumped on the Millennium trilogy bandwagon yet, I thoroughly urge you to do so now.
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