Film review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (15) (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Film review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (15)

5:16pm Friday 12th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

Running time: 152 mins. Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Peter Andersson. Director: Neils Arden Oplev.

Scandinavian director Neils Arden Oplev introduces a memorably unconventional heroine in his superb adaptation of the best-selling novel by Stieg Larsson.

Part one of a trilogy, this is a gripping and suspenseful yarn full of intrigue and deception that pulls no punches with the violence meted out to the morally flawed characters.

And that violence is graphic and shocking, including images of torture and sexual abuse that leave you watching the big screen through your fingers. Yet these scenes are never gratuitous and Oplev ensures that every bone-crunching punch is vital to the serpentine narrative that holds our interest for the entire 152 minutes.