logan j. fowler and bill bodkin debate the adaptation of the Swedish thriller …
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent.
To be quite honest here, I never got into the whole Girl With The Dragon Tattoo saga. Never read the books, and I have never seen the Swedish films based on the novels. However, my interest with this film, while sincerely there, is not something I’d reserve for the theater. Rather, this one I think I can wait till DVD. I’m not writing off the film, because, even though I’ve never given time to the books, or the original films, David Fincher does provide us some movie magic. While many are up in arms at the casting of Rooney Mara (The Social Network) as main character Lisabeth Salander, I’d be curious to see what Fincher has done with this famed franchise. If intriguing enough, hey, he may even have me look backward to the original source material.
— LJF
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Theater.
One year ago, I was quite hesitant about Hollywood remaking this film. I absolutely loved the first film — it was a dark, violent, utterly intriguing and wonderfully acted modern film noir. Why should Hollywood push restart on such a good film? Well, the trailers have really won me over to see the film in theaters. The air of tension, mystery and suspense that the brilliant David Fincher has created makes me feel that he’s going to give us a terrific and terrifying interpretation of the Swedish thriller. I have no doubt that Daniel Craig will be excellent as the journalist Mikael Blomkvist proving once again he’s more than just James Bond. However, I still have some doubts about Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Noomi Rapace gave such an iconic and defining performance, that Mara, who I’ve never been overly impressed with, will have to give one of her best performances in her career in order to break fans of the original film away from visions of Rapace. But if there’s any director that could evoke this type of performance, it’s David Fincher. So, I can’t wait to be taken back to snowy Sweden to see the American adaptation of one of my favorite flicks.
— BB
This movie looks top notch, though from what I hear and read it may push the envelope too far, and unnecessarily so. I hope Fincher isn’t adding gratuitous violence for the sake of shock value. He’s not done so before, so I have faith that the portrayals are true to the story and add value. I’m still wary of Rooney Mara. Her performance in Social Network was nothing special, IMO, and Noomi Rapace just IS the character. She’s got big shoes to fill.