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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

tomatometer

85

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 169
Fresh: 144 | Rotten: 25

Its graphic violence and sprawling length will prove too much for some viewers to take, but Noomi Rapace's gripping performance makes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo an unforgettable viewing experience.

85

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 5

Its graphic violence and sprawling length will prove too much for some viewers to take, but Noomi Rapace's gripping performance makes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo an unforgettable viewing experience.

audience

85

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 42,669

My Rating

Movie Info

A discredited journalist and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40-year-old murder. Inspired by late author Stieg Larsson's successful trilogy of books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander are briefed in the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, whose uncle suspects she may have been killed by a member of their own family. The deeper Mikael

Jul 6, 2010

$10.1M

Music Box Films

Cast

All Critics (169) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (148) | Rotten (25) | DVD (6)

An engrossing and classically suspenseful story

July 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment (1)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a handsome thriller, anchored by an arresting performance in the title role by Noomi Rapace.

June 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comment
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A chilling detective tale, a horrific sexual abuse drama and an overlong, emotional, tie-up-every-loose-end melodrama that is sure to be half an hour shorter when Hollywood remakes it without Swedish dialogue and probably without the cool Swedish edge.

May 5, 2010 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment (1)
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A bracing survey course on the mystery genre set in a Scandinavian landscape as cold as a killer's kiss.

April 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Appreciation of the film relies more on the performances than the problem-solving, and Rapace delivers a complicated and deliciously contrary performance that tattoos Lisbeth Salander straight onto the brain.

April 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

You don't mess with Lisbeth Salander. And you'd do well not to miss her, either.

April 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

David Fincher's reputation as the best modern American director is further reinforced by a strong DVD transfer of this, his latest, most underappreciated masterwork.

April 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

full review at Movies for the Masses

February 17, 2012 Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | Comments (2)
Movies for the Masses

The "Millennium" completist doesn't need to be told to pick this up, but would be well advised to understand that the set contains the TV version of the trilogy.

December 12, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

The final result is an adaptation that's just about as successful as its literary predecessor, with the film occasionally exceeding the book in a few areas...

November 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

... The rare film that lives up to the hype preceding it.

November 5, 2011 Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) | Comment
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

So exquisitely crafted and the final result is a good treat for anyone who enjoys the journey of movies.

January 3, 2011 Full Review Source: BET.com | Comment
BET.com

Dragon Tattoo is from the beginning far more about it's hero's than it's villains which is a pleasant change. It's dark and dismal and beautiful and human and everything a crime film should be.

December 30, 2010 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | Comment
ComingSoon.net

La película es básicamente un buen ejemplo de cine comercial bien hecho, con algunos brillos formales y buen elenco que, de paso, permite sacar por un momento la cabeza más allá de las colinas de Hollywood.

December 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

Witless, suit-and-tie porn posing as Great Art.

November 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Projection Booth | Comments (8)
Projection Booth

Stieg Larsson's ... millions of fans [were] waiting to pounce on any missteps ... Fortunately, director Niels Arden Oplev has got things right.

November 26, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Talk | Comment

Do people love the original book so much they're willing to forgive a film that is sorely lacking in substance, motivation, action, tension, ambiguity and style?

November 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Quickflix | Comments (11)

Graphic sexual violence in thrilling subtitled crime drama.

November 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

Usprkos toga to je Larsson i kod nas ario i palio po knjiarama, hrvatski distributeri dosad nisu imali razumijevanja za vedsku trilogiju

October 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | Comment

It's really quite ingenious in a rather basic way.

October 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

Very few murder mysteries are as dark as this one. Fortunately, there is also some light in this movie to offset all that darkness.

October 20, 2010 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comment
Laramie Movie Scope

An overlong, gestating, and sadistic version of a Murder She Wrote episode, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is all hype, confusing shocking imagery for thrilling storytelling.

September 20, 2010 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | Comment (1)
Matt's Movie Reviews

Met with much success throughout the world, and one must wonder if its rather old-fashioned mystery feel had something to do with it.

September 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | Comment
Window to the Movies

Fans of the book have been disappointed in this workmanlike adaptation, but coming to it with no expectations it is quite involving...

September 5, 2010 Full Review Source: Seanax.com | Comment
Seanax.com

It's not surprising David Fincher has put his hand up for the remake, as the subject material is right up his alley, a la Seven and Zodiac but an English-language remake seems so pointless (as usual) given the quality here.

September 1, 2010 Full Review Source: The Standard | Comment

[W]hile the film offers silly fun for a while, its ultimate schizophrenia and self-seriousness become its undoing.

July 10, 2010 Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | Comments (14)
MovieMartyr.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This was the very first foreign film ive sat thru completely with subtitles. Usually I go for the dubbing. .but this . . everything was perfect. What a tight, twisting thriller. Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth and Michael Nyqvist as Mikael shined. I can think of anything bad to say about this. It was a 2 and half hour ride

July 7, 2010
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

A very well made thriller that knows how to balance an engaging story and well developed characters. The story is never shy about it's motivations, the entire anti-misogynyst theme is played strongly, but never becomes annoying or preaching. You can quickly tell all the stuff that will be cut in the upcoming hollywood

April 7, 2010
DragonEyeMorrison
Tsubaki Sanjuro

Super Reviewer

    1. Lisbeth Salander: He's a evil motherfucker that hates women!
    – Submitted by xniquet L (5 months ago)
    1. Mikael Blomkvist: I would have never done it, Lisbeth. But I understand why you did. I don't know what you have experienced. But I was about to die in that cellar, and you saved my life. Whatever you have seen, you don't need to tell me. I'm just happy that you're here.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
    1. Lisbeth Salander: I've never done this before. Hold still, or it'll get messy.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

Latest News for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

October 27, 2010:
Dragon Tattoo Director Enters The Keep
Director Niels Arden Oplev ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") is in talks to direct an adaptation...

August 20, 2010:
Noomi Rapace Enjoys Oscar Buzz, Job Offers
Noomi Rapace, the star of the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," is getting ready to go...

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Foreign Titles

  • Verblendung (DE)
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Man som hatar kvinnor) (UK)
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