I went into this movie without having read the book or seen the original movie.  The only reason I even knew of its existence is because my husband has seen the original and I’ve noticed the movie sitting in the instant queue on Netflix. I was looking forward to seeing this movie because I like Daniel Craig, and it looked interesting enough.  I’d have to say that I did enjoy it, but watch out if you’re not one for too much sexually graphic content.  I honestly can appreciate a movie from time to time that is willing to show the good, bad, and ugly.  A good movie is hard to forget and I have found myself still thinking about the two and a half hour long adventure days later.

The movie stars Daniel Craig who is an investigator and he is asked to look over an old unsolved mystery case of the murder of a girl. Christopher Plummer invites him to stay in a house on his island in which most of the family resides where he can do his research. Whether he finds anything new or not he’ll be paid, so why not try.  Unfortunately during his investigation, Plummer’s character becomes ill and is in the hospital unable to communicate.  As Craig’s character works to find answers, he finds a helping hand from Lisbeth, a socially awkward young girl who’s lived a hard life. How they come together is explained.  Before they meet, the first part of the movie shows who she is and the type of life she lives.  Not a pleasant first half of the movie at times, but regardless still an exciting and suspenseful film.  Being that I have not read the book, I can only hope that fans of this story were pleased by this new film.

With this being a very dramatic and serious film, the actors did a great job portraying their roles. There were some very difficult scenes that left me thinking, I don’t know how they did it.  I usually enjoy watching Daniel Craig and that was no exception in this movie.  He’s good at what he does and nice to look at as well.  Rooney Mara played Lisbeth, who had a very challenging role and played it superbly. She must have had to step outside of her comfort zone quite a bit and got the job done well.

Don’t want to say too much more about the movie.  I think it is a must see in theatres if you’re into this type of movie.  I am unable to compare the movie with the original or the book, so its difficult for me to know of any flaws or things that could have been better.  If you’re looking for a better comparison in this regard I would recommend listening to the podcast where “Q” and “Square” talk about their thoughts on the film. Thanks for reading!