The book is always better than the movie. Everyone knows this. There is no exception here, but Fincher’s adaptation is damn good. It has a way of condensing pages of dialogue into a 30 second scene, supplying all pertinent information without the scene feeling rushed or stilted. It should feel like an information dump, but it never does. The film propels forward with vigor, maintaining concision throughout even with a nearly 3 hour running time. It litters little details everywhere, Anything deleted from the book was immaterial or the product of Larsson’s laborious writing style. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are both entirely believable and appropriate in their roles. I’m glad that Fincher maintained the tone of the book, as well as including some of the more fucked up scenes in recent literary memory. I can’t praise this adaptation enough. It’s true to the novel and I think it works extraordinarily well even if you haven’t read the source material.
