GIRL WITH DRAGON TATTOO arrives on-screen: year's best serial killer movie?

Granted, 2010 is young. Still, it's difficult to imagine a serial killer film any better, in many ways, than THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Män som hatar kvinnor), adapted by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg from the novel by the late journalist/novelist Stieg Larsson and directed by Niels Arden Oplev (shown below).  Taut, fraught and fascinatingly dense, the movie offers two of the most riveting performances to be found in this genre in a long while, both of which go far in making the film the success that it is.

Not having read the original novel, I can't say how closely the movie version adheres, only that it works -- and well.  Beginning like a house afire, it never lets up, although to be honest, its best moments by far fill the first half. Afterwards, though it never descends to the maladroit, The GWTDT becomes closer to pedestrian as it moves along,  offering up far too many genre cliches -- the rich and nasty family full of suspects (three photos below), naughty Nazis, the cliff-hanger climax, and -- ah, yes -- the villain who's down but not quite out.  Also, it's two-and-one-half hours long.

The movie's beginning is near perfect, as we are introduced to the two main characters: an enterprising journalist (above, right) suddenly made to seem a fraud and a young girl (below, right) on some kind of "parole" who must kowtow to her "guardian" (below, left). Fast-moving, giving us just enough time to ingest the necessary information, it sees to it that we're rooting for our twosome in no time, though we -- and one of them, in fact -- don't immediately understand their connection to each other.

There's a scene early on in the subway in which our heroine is menaced by a group of young thugs that could stand as a testament to director Oplev's talent. No wilting wallflower, the girl fights back fast and hard, and we're with her all the way.  The scene could go on longer, and it could be a lot meaner, too, giving vent to our sense of vigilante justice  Instead, it reaches its crescendo and then properly abates, offering us the information we need, plus a thrill or two, without ever going over the top in terms of violence.  Oplev informs and entertains but never becomes repetitive, boring or unduly exploitative.

Serial killer films -- particularly those that deal with young, abused women as victims -- are always exploitative by their very nature and often difficult to watch.  This one is no different, better or worse in that regard.  Being entertained by stories of young women mutilated and murdered has long lost its caché for some of us, no matter how stylishly handled or properly paced the director does it.  At least here, we are spared most of the in-the-moment violence but certainly not the visual or verbal after-effects.

The leading actors are all one could want for these two characters. In the title role Noomi Rapace (above left) is aces: strong, dark and mean, with just enough sadness and vulnerability to make up for her anger and violence.  As the journalist, Michael Nyquist (above, right) matches her moment for moment, mood for mood.  He's hard, too -- he's a guy, after all -- even so, he's softer than she.  They make a great pair, and when they finally begin working together to solve a decades-old mystery, the motor kicks in on all cylinders and keep gunning along -- until we realize, late in the game with some surprise, that it is powering a vehicle on its way to, uh-oh, the same old place.  (That's the trouble with so many of these thrillers: The mystery is much more fun & inventive than its solution.)

The players who support Ms Rapace and Mr. Nyquist are all fine, too, with Lena Endre (left), Peter Andersson (he's that "guardian" pictured above), Sven Bertil-Taube and Peter Haber especially noteworthy.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo opens in theaters across the country on Friday, March 19, with further openings to follows in the weeks to come.  You can check all playdates, cities and theaters here.