I saw the original Swedish version of this film almost five years ago and before reading the book by Stieg Larsson. I thought it was a stunning movie for which I gave it the highest IMDb rating. I got my hands on the novel within the past year, and it was so compelling, I read the second two books that round out the trilogy, and then moved on to the next set of three by author David Lagercrantz, all dealing with the two principal characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. While it's not strictly necessary to read the novel first, it does offer a lot more detail and nuance that would have been hard to incorporate into a film, especially given it's length. But what you do have here is a first class treatment of the original material by screenwriter Steven Zaillian and director David Fincher. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara deftly capture the essence of their respective characters (Blomkvist and Salander), while the story flows with the expected twists and turns provided by the intriguing plot. There are also a lot less names to keep track of than in the novel, which is a welcome relief given the preponderance of names and relationships within and without the Vanger family. You also don't have to deal with the tongue twisting Swedish street names and Stockholm locations that the story throws at you. There is one rather significant change versus the original novel, in as much as the 'dead' woman Blomqvist was attempting to track down was found in London using an alias, rather than running a ranch in Australia. However if you didn't know that, there's really no impact that changes the outcome of the story. It's been so long now since I've seen the 2009 movie of the same name, so to be fair, I couldn't recommend one over the other. But this adaptation is superb, and I can't rate it any less than the one directed by Niels Arden Oplev in Sweden. Best bet - watch both and buckle up for a great ride.
