Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead

This was my first experience with the series, and I must say that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a very good movie complete with interesting characters, suspense and believable action.

Looking back, it’s hard to say exactly who the protagonist is. The impetus in the story lies within Mikael Blomkvist’s (Daniel Craig) journalistic troubles but when all is said and done, at least to the extent that this story tells, I found myself much more curious about the past and future of Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) who bears the dragon tattoo.

Now, it would be easy to say Salander is the protagonist but it is through Mikael that she is able to shine. He is no James Bond and finds himself in situations and interactions that many other people might experience – he sleeps with his boss, doesn’t quite understand his daughter and trips over his own feet.

And through this potential normalcy are the effects of Salander’s character, her immense social awkwardness, allowed to affect the audience. This combined with her technical intellect and the movie’s opening sequences are ways in which the movie seemingly tricks the audience into thinking it’s experiencing a story about the girl with the dragon tattoo when it is in fact experiencing an episode from the life of Lisbeth Salander, private investigator.

Well played.

Image Source: http://unlimfiles.com/img_store/0/45/17/35.jpg