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[WanMan]

I have not read the books, but I have seen the Swedish movies (also on BD). One of the reasons why I hated this film when it was first announced was that American cinema, when basing its work on foreign film recycling, just seems to let me down. This feeling is akin to haven read a novel and then watched a movie of the same title.

When the America cinema seems fast and loose with interpretations in direction and story it seems to insert an unhealthy amount of fat in the viewing audience diet. This movie is no different. I'm surprised Hello Kitty didn't make an appearance.

The main character was not meant to be softened, but that didn't seem to stop Hollywood from working its fattening function. Lisbeth is a withdrawn character, and she doesn't really seem to start to open up until the third Swedish film, but it was rushed into a one-off movie conclusion.

I am not sure which bothers me more, the American cinema doing injustice, or that Hollywood seems to corrupt foreign directors so easily in that it perverse their re-treatise for the American viewing audience. I could live with Rooney Mara playing the lead character, even though she is still a bit too attractive, physically, compared to her contemporary (Noomi Repace).

Shooting locations, costumes, etc. seemed fine ... for me ... but I did think early on that American audiences may find this boring, dark, and not much with appetizing on. Sound needed to be elevated to grasp the conversation, but then again I think this was also the case with the Swedish films as well. The level of detail was sufficient, but the colorations began to make me wonder if this was more the intended video-look and feel than that of film.

** Sidebar: I remember the first times I shot daylight film in florescent and tungsten lighting. Those unexpected results were seen a couple of times here, but I presume with deliberate intent--although with bewildering viewer recognition.

Will this movie become cult-ish in following is anyone's guess, but I am pretty sure there will be a binary response (if not already established). It practically bombed at the box office and in less than four months I had it on BD at well below what it was originally street-targeted for.

If no one has seen the films, I would say you might tolerate the American version better if you do not see the Swedish version, or at least see the Swedish version last. I cannot say how either compared to the books, but then again the whole aspect of the written entertainment is that the reader employs a large part of the little grey cells to conjure up the visuals.

And probably the single wore change I could think of was Lisbeth asking for permission to kill Martin Vanger. I mean, the wife and I immediately looked at one another gesturing WTF!?!

[jbmeyer13]

I haven’t seen the Swedish version or read the books but did like this film. For me it was visually compelling with a great performance by Mara. It’s interesting that this film received a big budget studio treatment; in this day and age these types of films are often produced as Indies. Mainstream American audiences (used to a steady diet of reality television and popcorn films) do not identify with the darker, edgier subject matter of this genre and with a difficult to quantify addressable market these films are a huge risk to bankroll.

In general, films rarely match the books on which they are based. If given a choice I tell people to see the film adaptation first and then read the book. You stand a much better chance of a fulfilling experience as if you enjoy the film you almost will surely enjoy the book more so.

After watching this film yesterday I read the plot summary of the book on Wikipedia and it was interesting to see where the film deviated. The last quarter of the film seems very compressed in comparison to the novel. The relationship between Lisbeth and Mikael has an increased depth in the novel that isn’t drawn out and it will be interesting to see how the ensuing films address this aspect of the overarching story line.

[WanMan]

Oh, I agree if you had not read the books OR seen the Swedish films you would find the movie much enjoyable. I wasn't attempting to compare film to book as I have not read the books, but the American version lacked the harshness the original films presented.

And yes, they did dump a lot of the original story in order to make a 3-film story into one. Glad I had the Swedish films on BD.