The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fascinates. She’s tough, vicious and dangerous. She’s an anti-social computer hacker with a photographic memory, bad dreams and dubious morals. Lisbeth Salander, capably played by Noomi Rapace in the soon-to-be released film adaptation of the best-selling book “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” is a character we demand to get to know better.

Last week, I saw the press screening of “The Girl with the Dragoon Tatoo” at the Rigoletto Theatre in central Stockholm. Since I and practically everyone else in the audience had previously devoured the book by Stieg Larsson on which the film is based, we already knew the complicated plot and had sky-high expectations. (In Swedish, the film/book is called “Män som hatar kvinnor,” which means “Men who hate women.”)

The film and the book tell the story of crusading journalist Michael Blomkvist, down on the ropes and sentenced to jail after losing a libel case against a major industrialist. He gets hired by the octogenarian head of an old, wealthy family to uncover the truth about the disappearance 40 years earlier of his adopted daughter, Harriet Vanger. He suspects that Harriet has been murdered, and is tormented when he receives a different wildflower each year on the anniversary of her disappearance, presumably sent by her murderer.

Enter Lisbeth Salander, 24, pierced, fierce and fearsome in her black leather garb, who comes to assist Blomkvist in his investigation. We don’t get to know very much about tight-lipped Salander, which is exactly the point. She is damaged goods, abused and victimised in every possible way, incapable of love or even engaging emotionally. We as viewers are fascinated by this strong, silent type. The actress plays a person who is basically non-verbal, so Lisbeth is instead understood through her awkward body language, restrained gestures, and ice-cold eyes.

A revealing scene finds Lisbeth naked in bed with Blomkvist, who is almost double her age. The investigative journalist turns to her and remarks: “You know everything about me, but I know almost nothing about you.” The heroine replies: “That’s the way it is,” and turns a cold shoulder to the male protagonist.

The casting of veteran actor Michael Nyquist to play Blomkvist is a big plus, partly because he looks relatively ordinary. If Hollywood gets around to re-making the film in an English-language version, you can bet he will be Tom Cruise-glamorous and therefore less credible. The movie draws the viewer into the intrigue relatively slowly—perhaps too slowly for some– gradually developing tension which finally erupts in scenes of grotesque violence and ultimately, brutal revenge.

It’s an entertaining and exciting film, well worth seeing, even if it doesn’t deliver quite the same “punched deep in the gut” reaction elicited by Stieg Larsson’s remarkable book.