Director David Fincher almost perfectly recreates the living, breathing world that is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in his film. The whole feel of the film is exactly what I thought the world would be like when reading the novel; a gloomy place, it rains or snows. As soon as the opening scene ended, I realized that the book I had just finished reading was coming to life. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a long, sometimes confusing and emotional novel. I was very surprised that David Fincher managed to pack every detail of Stieg Larsson's six hundred page novel into a two and a half hour film. I felt like the movie didn't leave out any key moments from the book, unlike other movies I've seen that are based on books. Although some aspects of the book were changed in the film, I understand Fincher's motive behind it; to make the story flow more easily on the screen and the plot flow together more easily. For example, in the novel, Lisbeth Salander's relationship with her parents is much more developed. “Lisbeth Salander spent Christmas Eve at the Appelviken nursing home in Upplands-Vasby. He had brought gifts: a bottle of Dior eau de toilette and an English fruit cake from Ahlens department store. (Larrson 73). She talks to her mother regularly and shows compassion, unlike in the film where she is depicted as an outcast and antisocial. I thought that while it would have been nice to see Lisbeth's personal life in more detail, I appreciated that Fincher decided to keep her as a dark and mysterious character. It made her seem more ruthless for what she would do later in the novel, like take gruesome revenge on her rapist. The decision to make Lisbeth more detached from gr...... middle of paper...... Lisbeth crawled off her bike, cocking her gun, ready to shoot Martin, was incredibly suspenseful and showed his determination to kill the murderous mystery he had been searching for throughout the story. Overall, Martin's death seemed more believable in the film. While I really enjoyed the book, I thought the movie provided a more concrete explanation to the story. The book contained much more detail about the characters, especially Lisbeth. I thought the plot made more sense in the movie. Martin's death was much more satisfying in the film than in the novel. The film created a living world where the characters come to life. The dark themes remained present in the film, which made The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a compelling thriller. Readers will really enjoy reading the novel and the fact that the film has a similar, yet fresh and dark plot.