At first glance, the street-wise, leather-jacketed computer-whiz 'Lisbeth Salander', played by Rooney Mara in director David Fincher's English-language adaptation of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", appears hostile and unapproachable.
She has a 'Gyro Gearloose' haircut, skanky complexion, goth-lined, chihuahua eyes, shaved eyebrows, facial piercings and an obviously anti-social demeanor.
But when Salander teams up with Daniel Craig's crusading dog-faced journalist 'Mikael Blomkvist' in the search for a missing girl from a prominent family, putting her survival, killer instincts on hold, her rough edges slowly soften into a sensuality as smooth and slick as Fincher's no-nonsense direction, with Rooney Mara's beauty, quite evident in some nicely shot love scenes, endearing the character with the audience.
It is this love that Salander develops for Blomkvist that makes the thriller, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" come alive, complimented by effective performances from Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard and Robin Wright.
"...'Harriet Vanger', a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle (Plummer) continues to seek the truth.
"He hires 'Mikael Blomkvist' (Craig), a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate.
"He is aided by the pierced and tattooed computer prodigy 'Lisbeth Salander' (Mara).
"Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption..."
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" opens in North America, December 21, 2011.
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