Laura's screening with Laura Weaser

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Directed by David Fincher.

You know from the opening title sequence this is going to be a horse of a different colour.

Rock band vocalist Karen O's voice screeching out the words of Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, Trent Razor's bass and electronic rhythm thumping through the speakers, and incredible images of ink, black blood or whatever the hell that stuff was invading the screen like the darkness that invades the lives of these characters.

Welcome to Sweden as you have never seen it before.

Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara stitch up.

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is joined by unusual computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) on the quest to uncover a 40-year-old mystery over the disappearance of a wealthy businessman's niece.

You can't help but compare this, and I will do at length, to the Swedish version from 2009. I'm not usually one for English ‘re-imaginings' – it just says to me ‘we are targeting American audiences because they can't be bothered to read subtitles'. (Classic example: Spanish horror Rec versus American copy Quarantine)

But with Fincher, he is a true auteur, and has really well and truly taken the source material and made it his own.

I loved how he graphically explored the dark, twisted, disturbing psychological problems using oversaturation (a technique also used in The Social Network) to show there is something not quite right about the world these characters inhabit.

It was interesting that graphically Fincher gave the world a richer, more intriguing detail than the Swedish version.

The cottage Mikael stays in, Martin Vanger's house, Millennium's offices – everything had a modern feel to it, a clean look.

If I was going to get all Film 101 on you (and I might as well, didn't study for four years for nothing) I would say the cleanliness on the surface was only a mask to hide the dark secrets the characters each conceal in their own way.

Within these beautiful, fairly vacant scenes it was beautiful how everything within these scenes – snow-covered logs outside the cottage, the paper work in the offices, Lisbeth's shabby and gloomy apartment – was simplistic, but done in such a way you were truly drawn into this strange world far more than I felt I was with the Swedish version.

The actors too have made this piece their own, each bringing something rich and new to this film.

Unfortunately for Daniel Craig, no matter how much weight he puts on, he is still James Bond.

However, as he follows the clues and gets into some sticky situations, you realise he has had his licence to kill revoked.

Rooney Mara is an outstanding actress. Of course, Noomi Rapace made the role famous for her punk chick, I-don't-give-a-****, attitude and there was a lot of talk about how Rooney, a relatively unknown actress, would top THAT performance.

Well, in my opinion, she did. She really drew out all the underlying psychological problems that are lurking beneath her tough exterior.

Beneath the tattoos, piercings, blood, and make-up, she is just a young girl with abandonment issues and anger against men who mistreat women.

Her relationship with Daniel Craig's Mikael is, in my opinion, well thought out and portrayed with more depth than was touched upon in the Swedish version.

An additional scene (that was potentially in the book but not in the Swedish film) at the end really sums this up (no, I'm not telling you obviously!)

Although I never read the book, I have only the Swedish version to compare with.

In saying that, this film stands on its own two legs and is a captivating thriller-mystery in the dark depths of Sweden.

Reel moments:

The crowd pleaser – Rooney Mara. There is something so beautiful yet so terrifying about her character. She was the star of the show and didn't hide in Noomi Rapace's shadow.

The stage dive – Nothing to complain about, except perhaps die-hard book lovers may not like it (I understand some things were changed) and it was a little on the long side (at two and a half hours plus)

Final curtain call? – Loved it, well-worth a watch. As a side note: I do recommend not seeing the Swedish one as you will know how it ends, and I think this one should be judged on its own merits.