The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: What To Expect

Author: Dean Howell

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is set to hit theaters on Dec. 21st and if you haven’t read the book, you are really missing out.  Steig Larsson’s Millennium trilogy is one of the best international mystery/thriller series ever published.  The first novel is an epic that can stand alone, and it’s not necessary that you read the whole series.  Also, it makes use of some really cool computer gear.  Today, I am going to take the high-road, however, and try to not be a book snob.  It is my expectation that you will be able to enjoy this movie without regret of having missed out on the novel. 

Cast Daniel Craig 

Yes, I know that all the books are supposed to be about Lisbeth Salander and the miserable existence that she has been forced to lead at the hands of a secret organization, but it’s really about Mikael Blomkvist.  His altruistic personally and his complete intolerance for injustice is central to the story.  Daniel Craig fits the bill for me as a believable Blomkvist, right down to his natural demeanor, not to mention his parallel looks to Sweden’s Michael Nyquist. 


Rooney Mara 

Her looks are so solidly European that there is no disputing her heritage.  The way the Trilogy portrays Lisbeth is so precise and unique that it seems impossible that you would be able to find someone to fit such a disturbed image and sell it.  I think that Rooney Mara’s portrayal will nail the character’s introverted personality.  Based on the trailer, she most certainly nails the

Robin Wright 

A stunning, mid-40s actress, also with an unmistakably strong European face.  The mere sight of her screams Erika Berger, the strong-willed, justice-bringer and Editor-in-chief of Millennium magazine.

The only thing left out in the open with the film is whether or not it executes on some of the specifics of the series.  All three books take place in 2002-03 and use very specific hardware that was popular at the time.  Not to mention that there is a lot of believable hacking going on.  What I mean is, hacking occurs in a way that is not glamourized, and in a way that laymen could understand but is realistic to computer professionals.  So, will this movie use the specific equipment mentioned in the books?  Will it use the real operating systems of the time, or will it use Hollywood OS and all of this silly noises and images that go along with it?  Director David Fincher did an amazing job in The Social Network using period devices and software and painted a true image of the Internet in the mid-2000s.  I expect the same attention to detail in this film.

Don’t miss this film

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