Man Som Hatar Kvinnor (aka Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) (2009)

After losing a libel case, the publisher (Michael Nyqvist) of a magazine is asked by a wealthy, retired CEO (Sven-Bertil Taube) to investigate the disappearance over 40 years ago of his great niece. The publisher is assisted in this investigation by an anti social hacker (Noomi Rapace). Shakespeare's quote from MACBETH pretty much sums it up, "Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". What should have been a tight, economical thriller is an inflated 2 1/2 hour nasty piece of goods sprinkled with gratuitous rape and sex. The time consuming back story of Rapace's character isn't particularly original or compelling and it diverts attention from the central serial killer investigation. Fortunately, the two lead performances by Nyqvist and Rapace are solid and keep our attention but the movie could have lost about a half hour easily. Based on the international posthumous best seller by Stieg Larsson and directed by Niels Arden Oplev. As far as serial killer movies go, it's better than SE7EN but it's no SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.