The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo seemed to burst out of nowhere, bringing grit and guts to the crime thriller genre.

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Central to the film’s success is Noomi Rapace’s Lisbeth Salander. Pierced, tattooed and clad in black, her tenacity matches the intensity of her appearance. She teams up with disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) in an effort to solve a decades-old crime.

Director Niels Arden Oplev doesn’t shy away from the brutality and misogyny of the novel. He’s confident enough to take plenty of time in the first act shading his fascinating protagonists, but the 150-minute movie still zips along at an incredible pace.

More on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

• Watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trailer on iTunes Movie Trailers

• Read Total Film’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review

• Visit the official site of sequel The Girl Who Played with Fire