In true Hollywood style, as soon as a foreign film does well at the box office, a remake is scheduled so that the great unclean can watch a good story without having to expend any energy by reading subtitles. My initial reaction of “Oh FFS” was tempered when I heard that David Fincher was making the film, and I became intrigued upon hearing that Daniel Craig was to be playing Blomqvist. So it was that I eventually found myself looking forward to seeing the film when it was released.
The opening credits are tremendous. Very Bond-esque, there are lots of stylised tattoo-ink figures amongst other stuff, and the re-hashing of Led Zeppelin’s The Immigrant Song by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross fits really well.
Following all that, there is a general re-run of the original version, but in English. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very good film and I did enjoy it. It’s just, well, was it really worth doing? Rooney Mara is very good as Lisbeth Salander, though she’s almost a bit too pretty to be really gritty; there was just something about her face. Though she had obviously lost a lot of weight for the role her face was still too round and pretty. She’s certainly no Noomi Rapace who was just perfect, and Mara isn’t quite so brutal (though she has a mean swing with a golf club). Daniel Craig is also very good. He is the one thing I think is an improvement over the original. In the books Blomqvist is described as being quite a ladies man; however Michael Nyqvist in the original, has a face like a bag of spanners! Daniel Craig is definitely a better fit for this description, though he did spend a lot of the film wearing his glasses under his chin!
So, while I did enjoy the film I felt is didn’t offer much more than the original Swedish version. It wasn’t really a re-imagining, more a copy. The ending was changed slightly (if I remember correctly), but it’s of little significance. There is also quite an extended epilogue, I think spelling out what was more implied in the original; so those people who thought that Lord of the Rings had too many endings may be bored by this point. I didn’t think there were enough endings in LOTR so didn’t mind the epilogue. Overall it is a very good film, though perhaps redundant. If it ain't broke, don’t fix it.
I suspect that the reason Hollywood made it was that there are still a good number of people who won't watch films with subtitles... and because they wanted a pie that they could keep all the money from instead of sharing with the producers over seas
ReplyDeleteI see your point, but I don't necessarily agree with you. Much like last year's Let Me In remake, this re-imagining of TGWTDT has everything the original version didn't. It was slicker in execution and more engaging than the Swedish movie, plus Fincher's style fits the film perfectly. I dunno, I liked it A LOT.
ReplyDeletedbborroughs: I agree with you; I think it also shows a certain lack of imagination too.
ReplyDeleteNebular: I liked it too, I just think it was a bit unnecessary. I didn't see Let me in, as I thought the original was great in tension and atmosphere.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Word. I mean, did I enjoy this remake? Yes, I did. But 90% of that enjoyment is because I love the story, and 10% of that enjoyment is because I love Daniel Craig. My life wouldn't have been any worse off if they hadn't remade the movie. The franchise was fine as it is. And while the remake is a bit overindulgent of Hollywood, you can't help but enjoy it all the same.
ReplyDeleteM. Hufstader: I agree completely. I think anyone would have to try really hard to ruin such a good story and great characters. But it was still very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI got so much stick for coming to the same conclusion as you! How did you get away with it? I totally agree with you. If people are too stupid/lazy/American to watch a film with subtitles then tough, they'll just have to miss out on some of the best cinema the planet has to offer.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the film was very good but didn't improve on the original in any way.
Not sure how I got away with it; maybe it was all those chocolate bribes. Sorry you missed out! I totally agree; very good film, but didn't improve anything over the original really.
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