I wish I could have left more time before watching this after the original, but I think Fincher did an unsurprisingly good job. For a start, I thought a lot of the changes in the screenplay worked really well. I mean, I have no idea which is more faithful to the book - I’m going to guess the original - but I liked Daniel Craig’s Blomkvist more and the way the mystery was handled felt slightly more organic and believable. And in terms of style… well, Fincher’s pretty immense in that context.
The only real negative comparisons are that Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth isn’t quite as awesome as Noomi Rapace’s and that, without wanting to sound terribly unsavoury, the violence in the original is notably more effective. Apart from that, it’s all pretty close.
Very good again.
Grade: ****
