Watched the Swedish Version

So tonight I decided to watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Swedish version (as you probably deduced from my title).  The movie did a nice job portraying important events from the book onto the big screen.  A lot of the minute and sometimes entertaining details were left out, but in the end the movie did an effective job depicting the novel and adapting it to the big screen.  Certain parts were given more care than others and on numerous occasions the movie differed from the book.  This isn't something I'm used to with movies based on books; probably because Harry Potter is still fresh in my head and those movies rarely if ever strayed from Rowling's writing.  I don't want to give to much away for those of you who have not yet read the books or seen the movies (sorry I'm talking about Larsson now not Rowling), but the movie was entertaining. 

I think the parts were cast very well; except for one character in particular whose appearance differed fundamentally between the book and the movie.  I mean come on, is it that difficult to dye someone's hair brown.  When they're described as a brunette in a Scandinavian country it almost seems like that was done in an attempt to make the woman stick out.  Depicting her as a blonde takes away her character's uniqueness.  Anyway, I think the Blomkvist character was spot on and the girl who played Lisbeth did a great job.  The creeps were creepy and the actors did a nice job with their portrayals of Larsson's characters. 

That all being said I still think the movie missed on a number of points.  It felt rushed, the scenery was a little off, and Blomkvist's appeal to women wasn't touched upon at all.  I think an important part of the book was how nearly all of the women in the story felt attracted to him and/or fell for him in some way.  Hopefully the American version will play up his sex appeal, which I expect will happen because Daniel Craig will play his role.  Not to say that I find the man attractive, I don't really find any man attractive, I just feel that Blomkvist's effect on the women of the story should not be left out.  Subtitles are also annoying, so naturally the American-made version will be superior in that regard.  I love reading but not while I'm watching a movie.  I think it's important to take in all of the scenery and actions going on in the film.  Plus more money will go into the American version which usually produces a better movie.  But who knows, the Swedish authenticity of the original could supersede the superior financing and film-making of Hollywood.  Now I have this crazy fear that Hollywood is going to ruin the book with the new film due to come out around Christmas time.  Oh well, still a great book.  If you liked the book watch the Swedish version and generate your own opinion.  Mine in a nutshell:  I thought it was ok, didn't like how much it deviated from the book.  The Lisbeth character made the movie for me; if it wasn't for her excellent acting then I probably wouldn't have liked it.  Really looking forward to the new one and reading the next two books.