Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist form an unlikely pair of 'investigators'

MANILA, Philippines — “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is not for the conservative, let alone the queasy.

But it’s not to say that the David Fincher-helmed Hollywood adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson’s bestselling first book in his Millennium Trilogy is a gorefest. The movie has its fair share of blood, yes, but more importantly and interestingly, it puts the limelight on intriguing issues that many mainstream films veer away from for fear of criticism.

At the core of both the film and the novel is sexual violence against women. Did you know that the novel's original Swedish title was "Män som hatar kvinnor," or "Men Who Hate Women?" It might not be obvious from the promotional materials that “Girl” has, but it’s the premise that basically runs the whole thing. Protagonist Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) suffered it, so do the missing girl Harriet Vangar and the rest of the girls that were brutally murdered in odd fashion in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Then there are the other themes – dysfunctional family drama, sex, revenge, corruption, religion, adultery, and the Bible having a connection to the murders. From this list, the movie seems bleak enough, but it’s actually what makes “Girl” worth seeing, especially if you’re a fan of action-thriller flicks.

“Girl” basically pairs beleaguered investigative journalist named Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) with troubled computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Led by Blomkvist, they were tasked by billionaire tycoon Henrik Vangar (Christopher Plummer) to find out who in his family, as he believed, killed her niece Harriet back in the ‘60s.

Aside from this, the film tackled two subplots in the form of Blomkvist’s and Salander’s respective back stories. Blomkvist recently lost a libel suit against a powerful businessman before attending to the Vangar’s case, while Lisbeth was an “incompetent” individual sexually abused by her latest legal guardian.

Fans of the trilogy claim that this version has been more faithful to the book than the 2009 Swedish film adaptation, but other inevitable comparisons aside, Fincher’s “Girl” is fast-paced and it has its plot laid out well. Viewers will surely be hooked from beginning to end. It’s one “whodunit” film that is sensible and not boring at all.

Backed by a stellar cast composed of veteran actors including Craig, Plummer and Stellan Skarsgård, Mara was able to keep up in terms of acting and was excellent as the antisocial and self-confessed “insane” Lisbeth. It's probably why she earned the Oscars nomination for Best Supporting Actress. For her first major lead role, Mara was able to adapt to her character that unapologetically does things as she pleases and deems she needs, no matter how dangerous and immoral they could get. And that’s scary and cool at the same time, especially since female characters of her type are rarely seen in mainstream movies.

"Girl" also got Oscars nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Meanwhile, all the actors except for Skarsgård are non-Swedish. English was the language used in the film, with the characters speaking with Swedish accents. The movie was set in Stockholm and in the fictional northern town of Hedestad.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” will be shown in local theaters nationwide beginning Feb. 1.