Reminder
just as a fair warning, i only read the first book and never saw the swedish films so this is going to be a very strict stand alone  review with not too many comparisons. that being said, i will say that the film is very close to the book.

Plot
a journalist is gettting ridiculed for his report on a buisnessman and loses a libel case from it. the journalist mikael bomkvist (played by daniel craig) ends up getting a call from a union/island owner to solve a possible murder case that happened over 40 years ago. the emotion and dialogue given to christopher plummer as the oldman/union owner is pretty well done to introduce the mystery. while this is happening, we are introduced to a young goth like female who is a talented hacker/investigator. what connects her to the story is the fact that shes the one who did a backround check on daniel craigs character. the two characters are evetually brought together later in  the movie to solve the case.

Character Devolpment
now lizbeth salander or also known as "the girl with the dragon tattoo" is probably the most interesting character in the movie and theres alot to say about her, but i dont want to spoil the performances. her character is dark, mysterious, smart and damaged. REALLY DAMAGED. i was extremely facinated with this character because she has the most fucked up expieriences throughout the movie then any other character. as smart of a genious as she is, she is shown to have the same daily problems that people have with assholes in society. theres alot of mystery in her but you get some clues based on when the character is having sendimental moments. that is amazing underated acting from rooney mara. i hope to see her in more movies. daniel craigs character is great but because of how much feel you have for lizebth, you dont really pay too much attention. that becomes a downfall later on in the movie. but i think the most evil acting performances was the villian/killer of the film. near the end during the confrintation between daniel craig and the killer is so real and dark, you really feel scared to look at the guy. the dialogue given to him is so genious and original that michael myers or freddy kruger would not want to be one of the killers victims. the biggest spark to this movie was the great acting

Overlall Review
besides the acting, i think another big thing was the atmospere and cinematography, but i want to say the biggest downfall was the slow pace. even though the acting is great, you forget about it being a mystery film you get lost a little bit. and the scene where its going back and forth from daniel craig and rooney mara was just not nessesary because it goes on for a good 5 minutes. and sorry for spoiling but i didnt care for the graphic rape scene either. the rape scene didnt make me feel good for a good 15 minutes so that will also be a let down. the ending was cool but the very end before the credits felt out of place.

Rating
as much as im saying about the nitpicks, i really enjoyed this film. the mystery was interesting (even though it had a really disturbing woman abuse theme) the acting was fonominal and i look forward to the sequels. but it just fails on the levels of spectacular film due to its intense hype. its not something you need to see in theaters now, but it definetelly is a great film as a mystery. i give it a low FULL PRICE

by the way, the intro was cool too