The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (18.)
Directed by David Fincher.
Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright and Steven Berkoff. 158 mins
First, it bores you in subtitles, now it bores you in Eng1ish. For most of its 65 million readers the book is a compelling page-turner; so why on the big screen does this murder mystery always seem so dull, so inconsequential, so completely Tuesday afternoon on ITV3, even with some extreme sexual violence thrown in?
As a top Hollywood director, I can't see what is in it for Fincher. He did this kind of sleuthing to better effect in Zodiac. Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy is a hot property but a thankless one; like the Harry Potters they just don't fit on the screen. Perhaps trying to make hit movies from awkward material is the challenge that excites Fincher: it's like The Social Network with a little more action and a little less talk.
It starts with a nifty credit sequence that shames most of the recent Bond efforts. Hopes are raised but then it lurches into the story and all those expectations quickly drift away. Fincher shoots it well enough, there are a few really good scenes and overall it's an improvement on the Swedish film version but it's still a long old slog for very little reward.
Craig often makes for a dull and earnest star turn but he is actually rather engaging as Blomkvist, a crusading left-wing journalist. It is his best non Bond lead performance since Layer Cake.
After losing a humiliating libel case to one of Sweden's richest and most powerful businessmen Blomkvist is employed to investigate an ancient family whodunit by another of Sweden's richest men. It's the murder mystery equivalent of vanity publishing. In the title role as the pierced, punky researcher who assists him, Rooney Mara is certainly committed, but limited and a touch obvious. It doesn't help that she bears an uncanny resemblance to chief hobbit Elijah Wood.
People worldwide identify with and love this character, this slight, resourceful woman who will not bow to patriarchy, but her screen incarnations don't ring true. In the context of this movie's plot, the horrific rape she endures is entirely gratuitous, it's there just provide a pretext for her to illustrate her defiant, vengeful spirit. She's also that most marvellous of modern narrative cop-outs, the master computer hacker: any plot point can be resolved with a couple of clicks on the keyboard. She's the Girl Who is a Tattooed Deus Ex Machina.
Directed by David Fincher.
Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright and Steven Berkoff. 158 mins
First, it bores you in subtitles, now it bores you in Eng1ish. For most of its 65 million readers the book is a compelling page-turner; so why on the big screen does this murder mystery always seem so dull, so inconsequential, so completely Tuesday afternoon on ITV3, even with some extreme sexual violence thrown in?
As a top Hollywood director, I can't see what is in it for Fincher. He did this kind of sleuthing to better effect in Zodiac. Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy is a hot property but a thankless one; like the Harry Potters they just don't fit on the screen. Perhaps trying to make hit movies from awkward material is the challenge that excites Fincher: it's like The Social Network with a little more action and a little less talk.
It starts with a nifty credit sequence that shames most of the recent Bond efforts. Hopes are raised but then it lurches into the story and all those expectations quickly drift away. Fincher shoots it well enough, there are a few really good scenes and overall it's an improvement on the Swedish film version but it's still a long old slog for very little reward.
Craig often makes for a dull and earnest star turn but he is actually rather engaging as Blomkvist, a crusading left-wing journalist. It is his best non Bond lead performance since Layer Cake.
After losing a humiliating libel case to one of Sweden's richest and most powerful businessmen Blomkvist is employed to investigate an ancient family whodunit by another of Sweden's richest men. It's the murder mystery equivalent of vanity publishing. In the title role as the pierced, punky researcher who assists him, Rooney Mara is certainly committed, but limited and a touch obvious. It doesn't help that she bears an uncanny resemblance to chief hobbit Elijah Wood.
People worldwide identify with and love this character, this slight, resourceful woman who will not bow to patriarchy, but her screen incarnations don't ring true. In the context of this movie's plot, the horrific rape she endures is entirely gratuitous, it's there just provide a pretext for her to illustrate her defiant, vengeful spirit. She's also that most marvellous of modern narrative cop-outs, the master computer hacker: any plot point can be resolved with a couple of clicks on the keyboard. She's the Girl Who is a Tattooed Deus Ex Machina.
