To recap, the film is based on Stieg Larsson's novel whose original title translates as "Men Who Hate Women". It follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist who investigates a decades-old case of a missing girl. He is joined by Lisbeth Salandar, a young female hacker, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo".
The change in title seems appropriate because in the film, the "Girl" is much more interesting than the "Men", which includes the rather bland male lead. The two most memorable scenes depict Lisbeth's gruesome rape by her probation officer, and her subsequent revenge on him. These scenes occur in the first half of the film, before Lisbeth and Mikael's paths merge, after which the film settles into the more familiar rhythm of a serial killer film, and it doesn't reach the same emotional heights again.
The next hour is spent on the investigation, with a number of predictable twists and turns that are quite typical of the genre, culminating in the confession and subsequent death of the rather one-dimensional killer. It's a shame that so much time is spent tracking down a killer that is motivated by little more than unexplained hatred of women and a desire to see them suffer, and because of this lack of motivation the end to this plot feels anticlimactic.
The final thirty minutes are used to tie up various loose ends, with a string of scenes that each feel like they could be the end, but somehow the film keeps going, overstaying its welcome somewhat.
After the first hour or so, there is little character development. That's a shame, because it robs some later scenes of emotional weight, like the one where Lisbeth reunites with her mother, who seems too young for the nursing home she is living in, which left me wondering what happened with both of these women in the past ten years.
I have not read the novel on which the movie is based, but I suspect it fleshes out these characters and scenes more. I also read that David Fincher's 2011 film focuses more on character and less on plot, which I might prefer, though I haven't watched it (yet).
The change in title seems appropriate because in the film, the "Girl" is much more interesting than the "Men", which includes the rather bland male lead. The two most memorable scenes depict Lisbeth's gruesome rape by her probation officer, and her subsequent revenge on him. These scenes occur in the first half of the film, before Lisbeth and Mikael's paths merge, after which the film settles into the more familiar rhythm of a serial killer film, and it doesn't reach the same emotional heights again.
The next hour is spent on the investigation, with a number of predictable twists and turns that are quite typical of the genre, culminating in the confession and subsequent death of the rather one-dimensional killer. It's a shame that so much time is spent tracking down a killer that is motivated by little more than unexplained hatred of women and a desire to see them suffer, and because of this lack of motivation the end to this plot feels anticlimactic.
The final thirty minutes are used to tie up various loose ends, with a string of scenes that each feel like they could be the end, but somehow the film keeps going, overstaying its welcome somewhat.
After the first hour or so, there is little character development. That's a shame, because it robs some later scenes of emotional weight, like the one where Lisbeth reunites with her mother, who seems too young for the nursing home she is living in, which left me wondering what happened with both of these women in the past ten years.
I have not read the novel on which the movie is based, but I suspect it fleshes out these characters and scenes more. I also read that David Fincher's 2011 film focuses more on character and less on plot, which I might prefer, though I haven't watched it (yet).
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