The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Mikael Blomkvist is the co-owner of Millenium magazine and he has just lost a libel case brought against him by a high profile businessman Wennerstrom. The lack of sufficient evidence is his undoing. A big shot Swedish business magnate Henrik Vanger wants Mikael for a job related to a girl (Harriet) missing from his family for the past 40 years. Henrik assures Mikael that he will be helped in nailing Wennerstrom in return for this favor.

Lisbeth Salander is a researcher and expert computer hacker. She does the initial background check on Mikael and later joins him in his work. Lisbeth is a 23 yrs old ward of the state. She has a weird hair style, a dragon tattoo, lot of piercings, doesn't trust men, is subjected to bad sexual abuse and has socializing problems.

As the investigation proceeds, Lisbeth starts falling in love with Mikael, who has a teenage child as well. Mikael also has a sexual relationship with his partner at the Millenium magazine.

Lot of dirty secrets are revealed about the Vanger family. There were a lot of serial killing of women based on biblical phrases. These murders are uncovered by Mikael and Lisbeth. The truth behind Harriet and the serial killer is known towards the end. Mikael also nails Wennerstrom in the end. This time with adequate proof thanks to Lisbeth's timely help in this. In the end, Lisbeth rides away after she finds that her love won't be reciprocated.

The mood and treatment of this thriller is very similar to Fincher's 1995 classic 'Se7en'. That was based on the seven deadly sins whereas this is based on biblical phrases. Both are serial killer mysteries. But 'Se7en' was in a different league.

This movie has a sleep walking Daniel Craig who is hardly impressive, personally speaking. Rooney Mara's characterization must rank among the most daring and weird. Very bold makeover. The way she rides the bike is super-cool. The investigation scenes are interesting as expected.

There are some explicit sex scenes and a graphic rape scene. The BG score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross has a 'Social Network' hangover but, is terrific for the mood of the movie. The locations in the movie make us feel cold too. Good production design.

Very aptly titled because it is the girl with the dragon tattoo who takes this movie to the winning post.

VERDICT: A decent serial killer thriller thanks to Rooney Mara. Expected something more and new from Fincher though.