The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- Evil Shall With Evil Be Expelled.

I'd argue that with the canvas a bleak and dreary shade of grey, David Fincher produces his best work (I'm of course talking about the brilliant 'Se7en' and the unnerving 'Zodiac'), yet his 2010 Oscar-darling, 'The Social Network' remains a stumbling block in this ill-conceived theory. 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' doesn't quite step up to the formidable bar set by the tale of Mark Zuckerberg and his nifty invention, but what it does do, it does intensely well. Based on Stieg Larsson's best-selling 'Millennium' trilogy, and the subsequent Swedish movies, Fincher is efficiently able to give the story a classy polish, and really ramp it up a notch. It's brutal and unyielding and all the more better for it.

I'm unfamiliar with the literature, but the plot within is fairly 'police-procedural' -- Daniel Craig is Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist, reeling from the loss of a court case with a high-ranking Swedish businessman. This is essential to the plot as it gives Blomvist an excuse to vanish, escape the accusatory leers of those around him. Enter Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer, Captain von Trapp to many of you), retired CEO and the patriarchal figure in a dizzying family line-up. 40 years ago, his niece, Harriet, disappeared in mysterious circumstances from their family island, separated from the mainland by a single bridge. The murderer is a member of this excessive Vanger family which mirrors a who's who of sinister human beings (Nazis, some of them). Eroded by obsession, Henrik's mind is no longer lucid enough to continue his half-baked investigation. He knows all about Mikael, having had emo/goth hacker extraordinaire Lisbeth Salander pick apart every aspect of Blomkvist's life, gaining enough insight to know that despite his recent losses, he is 'clean'. Mikael takes up the offer, and delves deep into the murky past of the Vanger family, interviewing them one by one, uncovering their sordid past, and teaming up with Salander along the way.

There are many different narratives at work in this piece. The Vanger investigation features prominently, but there is nothing particularly fresh here. Fincher choreographs each scene with deft precision, using lighting and sound to sublime effect. It's incredibly eerie, the steep snowy hillsides shrouded in a dark mist, that is representative of the family that occupies the houses on top of the hills. No one speaks to one another, and when they do, it is harsh and enigmatic -- Mikael will have to keep digging. Yet, what brought life to the original, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, was the inclusion of Salander's character, portrayed then by Noomi Rapace, and portrayed here by Rooney Mara.

The girl with the dragon tattoo. Emblazoned on her back, spread carefully along her taut, pale skin. A ward of the state, she has been thoroughly rejected from every orifice of life. Yet, she is resilient, fiercely intelligent, and astonishingly strong. Mentally and physically. Rapace's depiction was of a woman beaten down, but determined to pull through, and come out the other end. She hid away behind her 'colourless' features, whilst Mara holds back no punches. Here is an actress that has gone all out, total role commitment, 100% -- she's extraordinary and steals every scene she's in. Doesn't matter if you're James Bond.

As with 'The Social Network', NIN frontman, Trent Reznor is back (with Atticus Ross) behind the film's soundtrack, and I fully expect him to receive another Oscar nod for a score which becomes a secondary character throughout the movie. You may not notice it, but alone on those dark, dank slopes...keep an ear out. Low at times, thumping at others, it aptly supplies the tense thrills Fincher is looking for, and Reznor's upgrade of Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song', with lyrics provided by Karen O (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), is astonishing. The opening credit segment is truly stunning. A plethora of dark metallic figures, whirling around in a bath of hauntingly beautiful sequences, pumped by the incessant chords of 'Immigrant Song', and Karen O's resounding wails.

The film is better than its Swedish counterpart; an assured director at the helm, it is able to tighten up the narrative and complete the jigsaw. I read that the last segment is actually the epilogue of the first novel, and though it is barely touched upon in the 2009 Swedish film, Fincher devotes time to incorporating it into his picture, and flesh his characters out further. The final shot threatens to throw the film wide open, begin a new chapter in Lisbeth's life. Just as, for once, she might be able to explore a new happily ever after, Fincher slams the book shut firmly, right in her face, and I hope he returns for the second film. A master at work here.