The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo (American Version)
In The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (American version), the protagonist Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig) is given the opportunity to restore his reputation as a reporter, when he is recruited by rich Swedish entrepreneur Henrik Vanger (by Christopher Plummer) to investigate the 40-year-old death of Vanger's granddaughter, Harriet. Vanger feels that a person from his family murdered Harriet. Lisbeth Salander (by Rooney Mara) eventually joins Mikael Blomkvist on his perilous hunt for the truth. Lisbeth is an eccentric but clever investigator whose fragile confidence is difficult to earn.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (American version) does a much better job of filling in narrative spaces, explaining events, and providing context - in contrast to the Swedish version, which assumes that audiences would understand what is going on and devotes less time to explanations. The outcome is more unified and lengthier, although diehard fans will be upset by deviations from the source material made for the purpose of brevity.
Harriet herself also appears considerably sooner in the film, and putting her in London rather than Australia at the conclusion paves the way for a neatly wrapped-up explanation - without the need for her to recount what she's been doing for the last three decades. Blomkvist conducting an interview with a masked Harriet about herself is also a lovely touch.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
Year of Release: 2011
Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara
