A Disappointing Continuation

The acting in this movie is really good.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Because this one is so different from the original film in Swedish, I do not think I can be fair. I hated it, especially the ending, which was downright cruel, and unsympathetic. I generally despise films with bad endings. I doubt people who have seen this and enjoyed it will enjoy the original, so I am writing this for those who have seen neither. First and foremost Noomi Rapace's characterization is far, far superior to Mara. It is so gritty, unflinching, and desperate, that just watching her makes one tense. The subtitles did not bother me because the dialogue is not rapid and the steady revelation of very interesting plot twists can be handled easily. What no one in any of the other reviews has mentioned is cinematography. The Swedish version is very bright with the cold winter glare filling every room. Every scene is so revealing because of this and it counts in the more lurid scenes. The American version is dark and so poorly lit one cannot see the most important scenes well. This is a huge flaw in judgment in my opinion.As I mentioned, the ending in the original 2009 Swedish version is so much better. All the actors have more range, sorry to say, than the ones in this version.

I watched this movie because Rooney Mara! And she doesn't let me down! Actually, when I was watching, I put more attention on her than whole story and I thought she is one of the most important reasons make this film great. Lisbeth Salander hides herself in a cold shell but she can be very sensitive deep in soul. Her superb skills give her a condition to live like that but she still needs to face evils alone. Hope life can treat these people with kind. Love Rooney Mara!!!

Don't think I have seen such a well balanced crime drama in a long time. It's a rare feeling that the three hours watching a movie have not been wasted. Giving it 9 out of ten, but only because there are movies such as "American Gangster" and "The Shawshank Redemption", but this is closer to 10 than to 9.

Overall, I thought this movie did a good job of representing the major events of the book in a more concise way. I was glad that the director chose not make a 600+ page book that at times was hard to read into a multiple hour movie. Sitting through that would not have been pleasant. That said, given that I have read the book, I felt there were a few parts in the plot that could have been made more clear in this adaptation - namely the bulk of the investigation leading up to the climax of the story...it felt a little bit rushed to me the way they skipped out on what I felt was a more natural chain of events; instead they included a scene with a character that was not in the book to move things along.I did however appreciate the fact that the film toned down some of the more graphic scenes of the book...they were appalling to read, let alone be shown on screen and I appreciated that the point was made without showing too many of the gory details. I have to mention a few other things besides my commentary on the film-book differences: I really enjoyed the casting of this film. I thought it was superbly cast all the way around. Though admittedly some of my favorite characters from the book had smaller parts, I was still pleased with how everyone looked. And I can only chalk it up to the casting that surprisingly Daniel Craig's British accent surrounded by everyone else's Swedish accent still somehow worked. Also it is worth mentioning that the opening credits are absolutely amazing. I thought they captured the tone of the book so incredibly well and were mesmerizing to watch. I would recommend this movie to someone based on the credits alone, though with the caveat that this film, even certain aspects of the credits, is really not for those with a light stomach.