Rooney Mara...Can She Be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

This morning I woke up to the news that the teaser trailer for David Fincher's version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had been leaked online, and I watched it in amazement. It looks as bad-ass as ever, even if the quality is a bit shonky because the trailer hasn't actually been released online. I must have watched the trailer about seven times today. There's just something about it which makes me very excited. But of course, any film made by David Fincher has the power to make me bloody excited.

Of course, the original Swedish version was a very good movie. The performances were all pitch perfect, the direction was tense and it was a very clever yet disturbing film. I actually preferred the film version to the book (mind you, I was rushed through that book and I have major troubles with reading). However, the biggest key to that films success was the amazing performance by Noomi Rapace. She was something new; an utterly fearless performance who was willing to put herself through just about anything to play the interesting role of Lisbeth Salander, a tortured, damaged girl who is also brave and intelligent. Noomi Rapace was so widely loved for her performances in the trilogy that many campaigned for her to reprise her role in the American version. She turned that opportunity down, and so Fincher went on a campaign to find his Lisbeth Salander, with early front-runners being young actresses like Carey Mulligan and Kristen Stewart, but yet, Fincher hadn't found his 'girl' yet.

Enter Rooney Mara. She had worked for Fincher before in The Social Network, but that remains as her only widely known flick. Sure, she was in A Nightmare on Elm Street, another remake, but it would be better if we just forget about that one, and also Youth in Revolt, which isn't widely regarded around here. Other than that, Mara was just as likely as any of the other candidates, but many disregarded her as she didn't seem like a true candidate because of her select filmography. However, it's like when David O. Selznick picked Vivien Leigh for the role of Scarlett O'Hara, he was taking a risk, and it paid off in the long run. We're yet to see if Fincher's risk will be worth it, but I think Rooney Mara will be beyond excellent in this film.

Now Lisbeth Salander is a role which isn't for the light-hearted. First of all, whoever is playing her must be prepared to put their appearance on the line. The hair has to go, and the short, uneven cut has to be died jet black. Piercings have to come in, wherever possible, especially around the face area. An already thin frame has to become even thinner, to the point that a scarecrow would be a similar figure. And you could probably forget about wearing pretty clothes. Black is the only likely candidate in a closet full of Salander clothes, and the accessories aren't exactly inviting either. Oh, and of course, as the title suggests Lisbeth has tattoos, a huge one of a dragon sprawled across her back, to be exact.

Then comes all of Lisbeth's problems. She has some less-than-gentle people surrounding her, including a dodgy guardian who believes that no deed goes unpunished. She distances herself as far away from the rest of the world as she can, hence the odd clothing and such. But she simply doesn't give a crap, because she won't change for anybody. She sleeps with whom she wants, when she wants, and won't give up without a fight. And boy, she can fight. She fights for herself. In fact, she is determined to do everything herself. If someone ticks her off, she'll get revenge, herself. Lisbeth is as tough as ever on the outside and the inside, and she's certainly not stupid, as she has more intelligence than she knows what to do with.

Lisbeth is undeniably one of the greatest female characters to pop up over the past few years, which is why she is such a coveted role. So, of course, the person who took the role had to be more than capable of carrying a film. When Rooney Mara was announced as the next girl with the dragon tattoo, people were sceptical over the choice. Was this because they felt that no-one but Noomi Rapace could fill the role? Or was it because they felt that Mara was too inexperienced to be handed a role as big and complex as this one?

Well, here here. First of all, at this point in time, I have trouble seeing anyone but Rapace in the role, because with those three films, she made Lisbeth entirely her own. While Mara is a very delicate and pretty looking girl, I think we can all see from the shoot she did a long time ago in Lisbeth mode that she has made a stunning transformation. She looks tough, less like a woman and as bad-ass as ever. The only thing that pisses me off is the fact that she doesn't have that beautiful long hair anymore, but sacrifices, right?

As for the inexperience problem, I feel as though if someone like Natalie Portman starred in it, it wouldn't be as surprising. Portman has starred in many films, and has built up a persona of being an innocent, sweet girl, which is far from what is required here. We all know what to expect from someone like her, and while the role would provide a great showcase for talent, that's not what makes this role special. What makes it special is someone who people barely even know to come in and have their own take on the character. Because, who says that someone inexperienced doesn't have talent? Sure, people get better as their careers go on, but people are born with talent. What they choose to do with that talent is entirely up to them. I thought Mara's performance in The Social Network was actually the best of the whole film, and if she can blow me away in three scenes, then what can she do with a whole movie? She'll be bad-ass, no matter what.

So basically, I think Rooney Mara's casting in this film is a stroke of genius. People don't really know what to expect from her...will she be a carbon copy of Noomi Rapace or bring the role into her own? But obviously, Mara is smart enough to know a good thing when she sees it, and I'm sure she'll do anything within her power to be awesome. Having the midas-like hands of David Fincher helping her along will only make it better.

So what do you think? Do you think Rooney Mara is a good fit for the role, or would you have preferred someone else? Also, are you looking forward to the remake?

DVD - Let Me In *mild spoilers*

or: That Let the Right One In remake.

One word to sum it up: Surprising.

Growing up is hard. You go to school, and suddenly you are surrounded by people who are all competing to be the best. There are those cliques who like to show that they're the best, and they're happy making everyone else miserable. They never spare one thought for their victims and they see bullying as something that will make them cooler. But what's life like on the other side? Let Me In's protagonist, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) shows exactly that. He would put on a mask and make these fellas beg for mercy, but of course, he's a little too scared. So instead, he suffers in silence, and when he's not at school he's living with his mother in an apartment block in New Mexico, hoping that he might have enough courage to stand up to his tormentors. One day, he comes across a new neighbour, Abby (Chloe Moretz), a young mysterious girl who seems to have a heater installed inside her, because she walks around in the snow with bare feet. Along with her comes an older man (Richard Jenkins), which leads Owen to wonder about what this young girl is. The pair strike up a friendship, and Abby becomes something similar to a mentor to Owen. All the while there have been a few unexplained murders going on around town and Owen discovers that his new friend - however good she might be for his confidence - isn't all she seems.

Now, you're probably expecting me to spend the rest of the review comparing this to Let the Right One In. I thought I would too. But I have very few things to say about that. First of all, you probably know that the original is my ninth favourite movie of all time. I absolutely love it to bits. So naturally, unless Let Me In burst out of my screen and made a pretty fireworks display outside of my house, I wasn't going to like it as much. In fact, I was adamant that I would hate it. I thought the Americans would, well, tarnish it with their American-ness. Alas, this did not happen. Everything was kept slow and restrained, as beautiful as ever. The only things that bugged me in the way of comparison is the fact that I'm so used to this film being in Swedish that I got pissed off that they were speaking in a language I could understand.

Let Me In does the inevitable, though: it improves on the original. This film starts in the middle of the story when Abby's 'father' is in hospital, and then centres the film around that scene. They also bring in a cop, played by the ever-brilliant Elias Koteas, which brings the story fluidity, even if it reduces the role of Virginia (Sasha Barrese) and her boyfriend, slightly. Let Me In also cleans the story up, as it doesn't have all of the strange subplots coming out of it. It just picks a point and it runs straight for it. I imagine, if I saw Let Me In before Let the Right One In, then I may actually find myself gravitating towards this version much more, but I don't imagine I would have been as taken by it as I was taken by the original. I still love my Let the Right One In to death, and nothing can take that away from me.

The vampire genre has become something of a phenomenon, ever since they started sparkling in the sun and going to school like old Edward Cullen. Now, those Twilight fans are looking for every blood-sucking fragment of air they can find. Unfortunately, they'll be disappointed by Let Me In, as it's as slow as anything. Well, sorry guys, but this is the way a vampire movie should be. Abby is evil trapped in an innocent facade, not a bloody wimp stuck in a wimpy facade. She's 12 years old, the ripe age when kids start learning more about themselves and start to become more wary of who they are because they are trying so hard to find their feet. Well imagine being stuck in that exterior for 400-odd years? Having to see people live the life that was given to them, while you stay paused in reality? Not only that, the only way of surviving is at the expense of others? Let Me In does a brilliant job of portraying that, really getting into the psychology of being a vampire. Which is why it isn't like all of the other vampire movies. It's just a movie about being different, and having to deal with it, in whatever way possible.

Matt Reeves is obviously being faithful to being a wonderful tale of friendship with a supernatural theme rather than being a movie supernatural movie with a bit of friendship. He keeps things as beautiful as they ever were, with long, lingering shots that prove that the film hasn't been made just to give gore and guts fans a good time. However, he definitely remembers the fact that this is still a horror, and there is a lot of blood. Abby, as cute as she seems, is terrifying when he goes into full vampire mode. Her eyes glowing while her face loses colour and has blood dripping from everywhere is enough to give me nightmares. One scene that works really well is the scene where Virginia catches on fire due to sunlight. One minute, she's sucking on her own blood (a sight which is haunting my dreams at the moment), the next, she's turned the whole room into a sea of flames. There are plenty of genuinely scary moments, just like this one, which are hard to shake after watching the movie.

Last, but not least, the performances are absolutely brilliant. Kodi Smit-McPhee continues to impress with his performance as creepy loner Owen. He just looks like the type of boy who would be bullied, and isn't the kind who could possibly stand up for himself. He does the fragile thing really well, and holds really nice chemistry with his co-star Chloe Moretz. With this film, Moretz confirms herself as not only a very capable young actress, but probably the most exciting we've seen in a long time. Her performance in this is absolutely amazing. I don't know how she played such a tortured soul so well at just her age, but I have to admit defeat to jealousy. Richard Jenkins, too, is great, even though he only has a small part. I personally think that his character is the most interesting, considering he is the one who has to commit most of the evil for Abby since she is too young to be anything but innocent, and Jenkins brings this emotional integrity to the role which is absolutely great. But considering 85% of this films success comes down to a pair of young actors, it does extremely well for itself, and makes for a wonderful adaption/remake.

THE VERDICT: Fans of the original need not worry: Let Me In doesn't tarnish that film in any way. It's scary, beautiful and haunting, which is exactly what a vampire movie needs to be.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

DVD--Death at a Funeral (2010)

or: Another remake.

One word to sum it up: Dark.

Time for a confession: I haven't seen the original Death at a Funeral. I shall go hide under a rock now. So I can't really do any comparisons between the Brit flick and the American remake. All I know is that the original was a huge hit for some reason, and it may be too soon for America to stick their teeth into it, but the results weren't that bad. My opinion could change once I see the first one, though.

Aaron's (Chris Rock) father's funeral is today at the family home, and everything goes wrong: the funeral home delivers the wrong body; a cousin (Zoe Saldana) gives her fiancé (James Marsden) a Valium from her brother's apartment, not knowing her brother is dealing drugs - it's LSD and the fiancé arrives at the funeral wildly stoned; Aaron's younger brother, Ryan (Martin Lawrence), a successful writer, flies in from New York broke but arrogant; one uncle is angry over his daughter's choice of boyfriends, and the other is cranky and coarse. Add an ovulating wife, a jealous ex-boyfriend, and a short stranger who wants a word with Aaron - what could he want? Would another death solve Aaron's problems? And what about the eulogy?

This is about what you would expect from America. There are lots of 'black' jokes thrown in and the general homophobia and other funnies that are sure to offend a certain group of people. However, it's not all that bad. There is a very fine cast which manage to keep you watching, despite the fact that the script isn't amazingly funny. Peter Dinklage, who was also in the original, reprises his role as the blackmailing midget Frank. Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence take the lead roles, and are pretty much as funny as they've always been...it just depends whether you like them or not. To add more star power, the currently cool Zoe Saldana and Tracey Morgan come along for the ride. James Marsden, however, is the standout, playing the stoned boyfriend. Gosh, that guys an amazing goofball.

If you're looking for cheap laughs that are satisfying enough, then Death at a Funeral is a good watch. It's not fulfilling or won't be winning any awards, but the cast make it worthwhile and it's an easy, laidback watch. Even if there are more stereotypes then you can shake a stick at.


THE VERDICT: An alright remake, just riding on the starpower.

6/10

DVD--The Karate Kid

or: Little Smith's big movie.

One word to sum it up: Sloooooooow

Just a few months back, when there seemed to be a lack of good movies being released theatrically, The Karate Kid happened to be one of the best reviewed movies in the US Top 10. Well, it did have one of the higher Rotten Tomatoes ratings. I think all those loving critics must have been seeing a different movie. If anything, this modern day reboot needed the boot to try and get it going. The final twenty minutes or so pretty much could have been a movie by itself, without the need to go through boring back stories and a young love affair to get there.

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's (Taraji P. Henson) latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

For a supposed family movie, this is ultimately meddling and way too slow. It's rather large running time of 134 minutes certainly doesn't help its cause, as most of this time is spent trying to explain the paper thin characterizations and also trying to show us things we have seen thousands of times before: a kid who is out of his place and just wants to fit in. I haven't seen the original, but my mum, who has, said that this was definitely a disappointment. All I really wanted to see was the actually fighting. But that plotline doesn't come in until a fair way in to the movie. As I waited, the films petty distractions soon bored me to go and do something else. However, the ending was pretty cool, and somehow managed to make up for most of the lost time.

Jaden Smith is like a clone of his father, and his charismatic yet arrogant presence reminds us of the days of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I couldn't help but feel like this was really just a Smith vehicle; Jaden in the lead role, both of his parents producing the film. Slap the Disney trademark on it and I feel cheated. This wasn't a family film at all. The way they try and manipulate you through Jackie Chan's character is a little absurd, and the love affair between Dre and Mei Ying was absolutely ludicrous. It's like it was trying to be older than it's age group, but doesn't fit to many other age groups as it is so boring. I hate calling any movie boring, but this one really was. Particularly because I didn't care for the characters, as Dre was a little too arrogant and Mr. Han was a little strange, and this was a mass characterization that focussed too much on that rather then all the exciting parts.


THE VERDICT: Cool ending, but unfortunately it hurts too much to get there.

4/10

Ocean's Eleven

As promised, I am starting to watch another trilogy, this time the Ocean's series, of course starting with Ocean's Eleven. I would have watched this later, but I had to get in before it got sold...which is weird because I thought it was a classic. With a cast full of Hollywood's hottest celebrities (if you could call George Clooney 'hot') and helmed by Steven Soderbergh, this film just spells classic, doesn't it?
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is a thief who has just been paroled from prison. He seeks out his partner, Rusty (Brad Pitt) and he has a job. And it is to rob the vault that houses the cash of three casinos in Las Vegas. And he plans to rob it on a night when 150 million is in it. So they recruit nine guys and they begin to put Ocean's plan in motion. Everything is going well until Rusty discovers that Ocean's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts) is the main squeeze of Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the owner of the casinos. Rusty asks him what is he going to do if he has to choose. But Ocean says that if his plan goes smoothly, he is going to be able to have his cake and eat it.

In my belief, Steven Soderbergh hasn't been such a great director of late. Sure, he did make that two part biopic Che, but did that get a theatrical release here? No. Then there was The Girlfriend Experience, which has the tackiest trailer I have ever seen. But don't get me started on The Informant!... So even though I had my doubts about Mr. Soderbergh's skills, I was still somewhat intrigued by his work with Ocean's Eleven, which is really just a Hollywood remake, but offers more than the average fare.

Ocean's Eleven is just an all-out fun film which doesn't take itself too seriously. Despite this, it does leave a little room for intelligence which meant I could easily relax into it whilst feeling satisfied with the outcome. If anything, this film is like the male version of The Devil Wears Prada...that's a fashion showcase for the women and Ocean's Eleven is a fashion showcase for the men. I imagine that tux and sunglass sales went up after this movie was released coz most guys would want to look like George Clooney or Brad Pitt. Speaking of which, the (mostly male) cast do exceptionally well in this movie, making it stand apart from other remakes/blockbusters. This is typically a guy movie, but I'm sure girls like me can enjoy it too.

Steven Soderbergh succeeds in remaking a film for the modern market by making it fun but intelligent at the same time.

8/10

Let the Right One In remake gets a trailer, and what a fail it is.

Remember that blog post I did a while back about the Let the Right One In remake? Well, there's now a trailer for the upcoming Let Me In...and now I have more evidence to suggest why it wasn't a good idea to remake such a great film.


List of things that are wrong:

• Remake. FAIL.
• Chloe Moretz. Talented but not Lina Leandersson. FAIL.
• Kodi Smit-McPhee. Um, I don't know what to say about that one. SEMI-FAIL
• The music. WTF?! FAIL.
• It's American. MAJOR FAIL.
• The hoodie is present. I know it's cold, but actors get paid to act, right? Lina Leandersson didn't need a hoodie. Despite that, the hoodie is a great addition to any wardrobe. ACHIEVED.
• That blouse Chloe Moretz is seen wearing. FAAAAAAAAAIL.
• "I need blood to live." Uh yeah, you're a vampire. We've seen that all before in Twilight. FAIL.
• Stalking the she-vamp. The she-vamp who looks pretty much like an average girl I'd see in this town. FAIL.
• "Among ordinary people." Well done. Vampires do live around ordinary people these days. See: True Blood, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries...ACHIEVED (based on the fact that they established vampires live among ordinary people).
• That scene where the blood comes out of her head. Eli made it freaky, Abby makes it a freak show.
• That floating white sheet. What is it? MERIT (I want to know what it is)
• Morse code. Swedish people make it look better...and that was just weird. FAIL.
• Looking forward to it factor? ACHIEVED (for comparison reasons only)

Okay, okay, I'm biased because I absolutely love the original and I hate it when Americans steal other stuff. But hey, this is one they shouldn't have touched because the film really only works in Sweden--it captures the beauty of it.

This is one film I'll be waiting for when it comes out on DVD...until then I can make do with Let the Right One In.

Trailer grade: FAIL.