The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first celluloid adaptation of the hugely successful trilogy, The Millennium Series, penned by late Swedish author, Steig Larsson.

Michael Blomkvist (Michael Nvqvist) is a reporter whose professional reputation is in tatters after he is wrongly accused of libel against a big-time businessman. When he receives an unexpected task from wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube) to help solve the mystery behind the disappearance of his niece 40 years ago, Blomkvist takes on the challenge, holding on to the promise that upon completion, Vanger will pass on valuable information that will rescue his journalistic career.

What Blomkvist discovers is a dark and disturbing family history embroiled in neo-Nazism, brutal misogyny and a series of religiously motivated murders.

Teaming up with introverted and troubled computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) in the rural setting of Hedeby Island, Blomkvist sets out to find out what happened to Vanger’s niece once and for all. But it doesn’t take long before someone is on their tail.

The film follows Larsson’s best-selling novel - originally entitled Men Who Hate Women - extremely closely, with director Niels Arden Oplev bringing Larsson’s absorbing pages to life in a spectacularly faithful manner.

From the gloomy yet beautiful Swedish settings to Rapace’s transformation to the gothic, boyish Salander, everything is as you imagine it when reading the book. Rapace’s performance as the eponymous Girl, is utterly compelling and the Swedish actress undoubtedly steals the show. Despite Nvqvist giving an equally convinving turn as Blomkvist, it is the mystery behind Salander’s financial dependency and man-hating ways that is the centre around which the entire narrative seems to circulate.

Whereas the book builds up momentum at a snails pace during the first 100 pages, as it clunks through Blomkvist’s investigative background, the film rounds up key elements concisely from the outset and in a way that doesn’t patronise the viewer by over-explanation.

The remainder of the film is as enthralling as the novel for the most part . Oplev does alter sections of the story without jeopardising the narrative but it would have been nice to see some more development with a few of the supporting characters - particularly for the length of the film, which stands at 152 minutes.

That said, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was produced by Yellow Bird - the company behind both the Swedish and English Wallander TV series’ - and was similarly shot as a two-part television film, hence the lengthy duration.

Rapace’s performance as the eponymous Girl, is utterly compelling and the Swedish actress undoubtedly steals the show

So does Jens Fischer’s and Eric Kress’ cinematography translate to the movie world? In a word, yes. Just as you could imagine the vast landscape of Wallander on the big screen, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo too, captures the essence of a Sweden we have come to know through adaptations such as these and 2009’s anti-Twilight vampire film, Let The Right One In: vast and picturesque yet overwhelmingly gloomy.

Although uncomfortable to watch in parts (a word of warning for those unaware of the story’s graphic nature), Oplev carries this gripping thriller brilliantly and his interpretation is likely to more than satisfy fans of the book as well as those still to be initiated.

If you’re having a lazy day and can’t quite cope with reading subtitles, then the DVD allows you to view it dubbed in English. Trust us when we say it’s nowhere near as good like this, though. 

Other extras on the DVD include interviews with a much less scary looking Rapace and Producer Soren Staermose and - even better - a sneak preview of the next film, The Girl Who Played With Fire which looks promising.

David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) is set to direct the Hollywood version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, to be released in 2012. But the question is, can he improve on something already so accomplished?