6/10
The most important element is the casting, in particular of Lisbeth Salander, the heroine of the trilogy. Given that she's an emaciated, autistic, post-punk, cyber-hacker, with a violent background and a distrust of the human race, you can see that finding the right actress might be a challenge. Noomi Rapace is terrific, which is a great relief. The part of Mikael Blomkvist (a surrogate Larsson) is easier to manage; the two of them make an excellent pair of protagonists. The story is complex, concerning the hunt for the killer of a teenage girl nearly 40 years previously (violence against women is one of the key themes). Journalist Blomkvist is assisted in the quest by Salander, while dark forces conspire against them. It's a long film, and has sub-titles, and there are scenes which are almost too much to watch, but if you want a compelling and politically astute thriller, you could do a lot worse. I dread the American remake which will appear one of these days.
