The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is part of a phenomenon in Sweden and Europe that is destined to become just as successful in the U.S.
The film is based on a trilogy of books written by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, and even though the three films made from them have broken records in Scandinavia, there is talk of Hollywood remaking at least this one and reportedly Brad Pitt has been offered the role of the lead character, Mikael Blomkvist.
I don’t see it, but then I haven’t read the novels and have only this film to go by.
Blomkvist is an investigative journalist who is tried and found guilty of libel for what he wrote in a magazine about a corrupt Swedish industrialist.
Blomkvist claims that he was set up, but before he serves his time in prison, he is approached by Henrik Vanger, the wealthy octogenarian and member of the Vanger Group, which is owned by a wealthy industrial family in their own right.
Vanger lives on a remote island in the Swedish archipelago where the rest of his family members also have homes, and he hires Blomkvist to investigate the murder of his niece, Harriet, who was 16 when she disappeared from the island back in 1966.
Although her body was never found, Vanger believes she was murdered, because she disappeared on a day when no one could get off or on the island, and every year on his birthday since then he has received framed flowers from around the world, which he believes are from Harriet’s killer who is taunting him.
Meanwhile, we meet a young punk-looking woman who is a researcher for a security company. She tells her boss, “You order the goods. I deliver them.”
She is Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the tattoo, she is a computer hacker, and she is rude, lewd, and crude personified.
When Lisbeth and Blomkvist meet and start working together, they uncover a mystery that leads to a thrilling climax, two equally gripping anticlimaxes, and a final denouement that will have you eagerly awaiting the next two films in the trilogy.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels have been called “Harry Potter for grownups,” but I believe they are more likely to be a Twilight Saga for mature adults.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Hotshots” is a weekly movie review by Dan Culberson available on KGNU Community Radio (88.5 FM in Boulder and 1390 AM in Denver, on Filmchannel1, and on Boulder Reporter. Culberson has been reviewing films since 1972 for newspapers, magazines, radio and television.