The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
“Why? Has been the big question with the Hollywood remake of the Swedish film, and my first thought after seeing it was that I had just seen a very competent cover version of a great song, nothing had been lost or destroyed, but neither had anything been added. Rather like famously Gus Van Sant’s Psycho(1998) remake or Let Me In(2010), the Americanized Let the Right One In, it simply exists seemingly to feed the heartlands fear of subtitles and mistrust of foreign produce. Weirdly though, I would guess that the type of audience this seems designed for would be equally be put off by the double anal rape, sex scenes, swearing and almost continual images of rape and dismemberment of young women, not to add the fact that the majority of the cast is made up of sinister Brit actors doing funny accents. Putting aside the resounding “why” then, and allowing the film to breathe on it’s own merits, it is a fantastic piece of entertainment. Any faults with it are not to do with Fincher or the cast but the original story which I always felt was a lot of tease for very little payoff. After creating one of the most terrifying serial killers for a long time, this character is disposed of almost arbitrarily, and the much criticized changed ending, again, didn’t really add or subtract in my opinion, it was simply different. The film is also too long, squeezing in scenes from the beginning of the second Swedish movie and going on to less and less effect after the main plot has ended. It looks, as you would expect, amazing though, everyone in the cast is brilliant and some scenes are among the best Fincher has ever shot. Lisbeth of course is an amazing character and no wonder her character resonates so strongly with women, how she deals with her rapist is the kind of wish fulfillment normally, and unfairly, usually only dished out to men watching action movies. Interestingly though, a noticeable change I thought, for the character is that in the original Swedish movie she spurns more intimacy, whereas here, in the Hollywood version, it is still the man who turns his back on this very sexy and intelligent, but still too challenging other. The message would seem to be that any man would happily sleep with or work with Lisbeth, but would not want a real relationship over a more domesticated woman, with this the film doesn’t undo all it’s good work(James Bond as the damsel in distress), but it does soil it a little. 7/10
Monday, January 2, 2012
It's The Muppet Show.. Yeeeaahhh!!!
The Muppets (2011)
Strangely the film that this most reminded me of was Rocky Balboa(2006), another film about a hero lost in the mists of time who everybody thinks is way past his glory days, coming back for one last attempt to recapture the magic. It’s also, and this is no faint complement to say, The Muppets was even better, better than Rocky Balboa, better than anyone had any right to expect considering the recent downward spiral into dvd hell that The Muppets seemed to be suffering. This is easily the best Muppet movie since A Christmas Carol(1992), if not the original three ‘classic’ films. If you remember the Muppet Show this will reignite your childhood love, if you’ve never seen a Muppet movie before, this is a perfect place to start. Many have already said it but Jason Segal walks the fine line between reverence and self reflection perfectly, this is both absolutely nostalgic but also postmodern, thankfully not in the usual grindingly wearing way. None of the cameos outstay their welcome, indeed, I thought this was the best thing Jack Black has done in years, and Alan Arkin totally steals his scenes as expected. If there’s anything to fault, and it’s a very small if, perhaps it’s a bit too clever for it’s own good sometimes, but like South Park:The Movie(1997), before it, this is one of the greatest disguised musicals you’ll see, probably funnier than the so called top comedies of last year, and like Pixar, a kid’s film that is just as enjoyable for adults, if not more so- 80s robot= pure genius, and I did seem to have something in my eye several times during it. 10/10
Strangely the film that this most reminded me of was Rocky Balboa(2006), another film about a hero lost in the mists of time who everybody thinks is way past his glory days, coming back for one last attempt to recapture the magic. It’s also, and this is no faint complement to say, The Muppets was even better, better than Rocky Balboa, better than anyone had any right to expect considering the recent downward spiral into dvd hell that The Muppets seemed to be suffering. This is easily the best Muppet movie since A Christmas Carol(1992), if not the original three ‘classic’ films. If you remember the Muppet Show this will reignite your childhood love, if you’ve never seen a Muppet movie before, this is a perfect place to start. Many have already said it but Jason Segal walks the fine line between reverence and self reflection perfectly, this is both absolutely nostalgic but also postmodern, thankfully not in the usual grindingly wearing way. None of the cameos outstay their welcome, indeed, I thought this was the best thing Jack Black has done in years, and Alan Arkin totally steals his scenes as expected. If there’s anything to fault, and it’s a very small if, perhaps it’s a bit too clever for it’s own good sometimes, but like South Park:The Movie(1997), before it, this is one of the greatest disguised musicals you’ll see, probably funnier than the so called top comedies of last year, and like Pixar, a kid’s film that is just as enjoyable for adults, if not more so- 80s robot= pure genius, and I did seem to have something in my eye several times during it. 10/10
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