It is rare that I don't want to make up an amusing (if only to myself) sub-title for my review, but this film doesn't warrant any humour. Not that it means I hated it, quite the opposite in fact.
This is the English language adaptation of Steig Larssons bestseller. All three in the Millenium trilogy have already been made in the original Swedish, but as is the case now rather than badly dub the film and expect English speaking audiences to accept it, a remake is now the order of the day. As with the series Wallander the film stays in Sweden, with slight accents from the English speaking cast. You couldn't possibly have translated the story into the UK or USA, unlike the Danish series the Killing, and though I've been told the Swedish original is superior I wanted to see the English version so I could concentrate every ounce of my being on the action and not subtitles.
Rooney Mara (The Social Network) plays Lisbeth Salander, a girl who has had a rough life and is distrustful of people and their motives, sometimes with pinpoint accuracy and awful results. She is noticeably different, punk hair, piercings all over her face, and tattoos all over her body. But Lisbeth is a fantastic investigator, mostly due to her expert computer hacking skills, and makes a living from it with a reputable company run by Goran Visnjic (ER).
Daniel Craig (do I need to say it? OK then, James Bond) is Mikael Blomkvist, a recently disgraced journalist who has been called upon by Henrik Vanger, the patriach of a large and wealthy family, to investigate the disappearance of his niece almost forty years previously. And here our two protagonists' stories meet.
This is all I'm going to say storyline wise as I fear ruining it for those who read this and have not had the pleasure of the books or the film yet.
I have read the books and loved them, which is strange for a person who can normally only stomach books that have at least one element of the supernatural. The plot is gripping as you are sucked into this world of family feuds, murder, rape, and the quest for justice. The film lives up to the book and though I knew what was coming I still was tense and on the edge of my seat at the appropriate moments.
From the very beginning it is stylish and violent, and I recommend if you think you might miss the first few minutes to not bother and go see the next showing as you will miss one of the most creative opening credits with the best Zepplin cover I've heard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kn7bgGd-Wk).
The music throughout is fitting to the tone of the film, it builds suspense and knocks you for six (just wait for Enya to pop up and you'll see what I mean).
The direction is tight, but with David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) at the helm it was never going to be anything but.
The casting is superb. Emma Stone officially has a rival in my actress crush in the shape of Rooney Mara - she is fearless and created exactly the Lisbeth Salander I had in my imagination. Daniel Craig too was fitting as Blomkvist and I was happy that he did not attempt an accent. The rest of the cast too were excellent, especially Stellan Skarsgaard (Mamma Mia) who seemed to relish his role as the brother of the missing girl.
I am looking forward to seeing the Swedish films, but I also am really hoping Fincher has the go ahead to make the rest of the trilogy because he has done such a fantastic job with this first film.
If you have read the book then I'm not sure there is much you could find wrong with this adaptation. If you have not read it then I recommend it anyway, just be prepared for graphic violence and sex, it is an 18 for a reason.
No comments:
Post a Comment