Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män Som Hatar Kvinnor; Millennium: Part 1: Men Who Hate Women) (2009)

Lizbeth Salander, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, may have a tortured or damaged soul but she believes in one thing: payback. Indeed, she knows her way around a Taser, a golf club (used in a manner inconsistent with the manufacturer's labeling), a sex "toy" that looks more like a rocket launcher munition, and more. It's OK though -- she's fighting back against some very sick sadistic men (and at times defending a very good man). Being from Sweden, this movie is rated R for more than a 30-second sex scene in dim lights and three brief scenes of partial disrobement in a bedroom or bathroom in addition to scenes of bloodletting and gore, not to mention skimmed-over scenes of two rapes and one payback. (There may be more details in the 180-minute version shown in Sweden and Europe but I saw the 152-minute U.S. version that's enjoyed an extended stay at the Landmark River Oaks, its exclusive venue in Houston.) We gradually learn more about Lizbeth's past and why she chooses to act or retaliate rather than crumple up and remain a victim; all I can say is that audiences seem to find in her a sympathetic and resourceful hero who will not let injustice stand. Our story begins as Lizbeth's exceptional intelligence and hacking skills have been hired to dig up dirt on Mikael Blomqvist, a crusading magazine publisher (whose career greatly resembles that of the book trilogy's author, Stieg Larsson). She finds nothing bad, which to her proves there is nothing bad (or she would have found it): Mikael is the real deal, a true crusader for those who have been wronged. She continues tracking him for her own reasons and ultimately introduces herself (in her own passive-aggressive way) then teams up with him on his current assignment to solve the mystery of what happened to Henrik Vanger's beloved niece 40 years previously. The mystery is supremely well layered and masterfully executed -- and even though I suspected the gist of the resolution from the opening scene, the detective-story developments and denouement were so intricately and movingly portrayed that I enjoyed the movie a great deal and would welcome the chance to see it again. When finally seeing the movie, I had ordered and have since received all three globally best-selling novels (the third one was released May 25). 5 stars.