The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-2011

As the tagline for the excellent teaser trailer goes, the feel bad movie of Christmas, never has a tagline so accurately described a film in quite a while. Indeed the film can now sit along side films like Batman Returns, Lethal Weapon and Catch Me If You Can as a brilliant alternative Christmas movie.

Before going to see the film, I had no clue as to what The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was actually about. All I knew that Daniel Craig was investigating a murder and the title character, played by Rooney Mara somehow assists him along the way. Oh...and that it apparently contained some horrible anal rape scene which certainly lives up to its infamy, but there were other scenes in the film that I found a lot more disturbing, especially the final torture scene. More importantly though the main reason why I wanted to see it was because it was directed by David Fincher. One of the few directors who makes consistently good work, and one that I would argue has never made a truly bad film. Yes even Alien 3 has its merits.

From the very beginning it looks and feels like a Fincher film. After a short scene there is a (surprisingly long) credits sequence with Karen O’s and Trent Reznor’s cover of the Immigrant Song blasting out of the speakers. The visuals are hard to make out but they aren’t exactly pleasant, and it sets the tone for the film. That it is going to be brutal, dark and that it is not going to be a comfortable viewing experience. Of course Fincher has a title sequence in almost all of his films but this was his best one since Se7en and I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the film had in store.

The performances in the film were very very good. Daniel Craig was brilliant as Mikael Blomkvist and it was nice to see him play a more “real” character for a change, someone who makes mistakes and is not necessarily going to get out of those mistakes on his own, unlike James Bond. Bond would barely flinch at a mutilated cat, Blomkvist reacts like most people in shock, fear and nausea. It was great to see him play with his usual on screen persona. Rooney Mara as Lisbeth was sensational, one minute innocent and child-like, the next vicious and violent as if she has seen and been through everything that life can throw up at you. A truly complex character, someone who you can never really work out her motives for some of the things she does throughout the film, even as the final credits roll. I’m guessing in the next two films/books we get to find out a lot more about the character. Two very hard characters to play and I hope at least one of them is nominated for an oscar this year.

The film is very long, but apart from the last fifteen minutes or so, it doesn’t really feel it. The plot is complex enough to fulfill the running time as Mikael and Lisbeth try to work out who the murderer is and constantly running into dead ends. There are a lot of montage sequences of filing through books and photographs to find some sort of clue. and somehow it is very compelling to watch. The film is a lot closer to Zodiac than Se7en.

Whilst the revelation of who the murderer is isn’t quite as surprising as I was expecting, other revelations towards the end of the film are a lot more rewarding and actually surprisingly upbeat considering everything that has come before it. The  story of the murder seems to have a definitive end, but the story of Mikael and Lisbeth who end up lovers, whilst working together and the final scene is pretty heartbreaking. Their story isn’t over and I can’t wait to see where the two characters go in the next two stories. 

To conclude, what I found most refreshing about the film was the fact that it was part of a worldwide phenomenon that did not includes wizards, magic, lightsabers or comic book heroes. This is a story made by adults for adult and I can now see why everyone has made such a fuss about it in the last couple of years or so. It reminds me of another serial killer franchise, the Hannibal Lecter books/films. Let’s hope that the next two films (if they make them) are just as good as this one and don’t into parody like the most recent Hannibal films.

Is Rise of the Planet of the Apes the surprise of the summer?

The blockbuster season of 2011 has been a decidedly mixed bag. Films like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Rob Marshall) and The Hangover Part 2 (Todd Phillips) were highly anticipated and I admittedly was pretty looking forward to going to see them. Unfortunately Pirates was very mediocre and Hangover 2 was a carbon copy racist version of the vastly superior first film. Not a good start to the summer.
When the trailers for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt) started to surface, a lot of people were unimpressed including some of my friends and even I wasn't particularly interested in seeing it. Maybe that was due to the CGI looking sub-par or the fact that the Planet of the Apes franchise wasn't exactly popular or fashionable. With the release of Tim Burton's disappointing "re-imagining" of Planet of the Apes, its not exactly surprising that news of another Apes film was hardly going to set the world alight.
However when the film was released on August 5, reviews were generally positive and so was the audience reaction. When I talked to a friend about it, he said it was definitely worth seeing, so I decided earlier today to go and see the film.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes certainly exceeded all my expectations, it was a compelling, emotional and a thoroughly enjoyable film. After a summer of disappointments and overlong and over-complicated films, (here's looking at you Pirates 4 and Transformers:Dark of the Moon (Michael Bay)), it was refreshing to watch a summer blockbuster that was more subtle and character driven instead of watching things blow up for 2 hours. The CGI was very very good, there were times in the film where the apes looked genuinely real and not a visual effect. Of course you can't talk about the CGI in the film without mentioning the true star of the show, Caesar portrayed by Andy Serkis. Serkis is phenomenal in the film, his complex emotional portrayal of Caesar is worth the price ticket alone. Its unlikely he will be nominated for an Oscar which is a shame because the visual effects will get a nod. Its about time Andy Serkis is recognised as the great actor he is and this film truly showcases that.

Caesar is definitely the strongest character in the film and he is the one character in the film you completely sympathize with, because of what he goes through throughout the story. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the film. Despite the apes terrorizing San Francisco and its citizens during the film's terrific final act, you still sympathize with them because a lot of time is devoted to their story and the traumatizing experiences they go through when they are all kept in captivity by John Landon (Brian Cox) and his sadistic son (Tom Felton).
The human characters however are a bit hit and miss. James Franco gives a solid performance as Will Rodman and he is well on his way to becoming a major A-List star, however he never fully convinces as a scientist when you compare it to his flawless performance in 127 Hours (Danny Boyle). Frieda Pinto is given very little to do as the romantic interest and Tom Felton essentially plays a one-dimensional Draco Malfoy. But being this is the origin story of Caesar and the rise of the apes as the dominant species, and it is done very very well these are just minor nit-pickings in an otherwise brilliant film.
Overall I feel that the film was a breath of fresh air in a summer of over-hyped and underwhelming films and is a more than worthy addition to the Planet of the Apes franchise. It is a pulse-pounding, engaging and thrilling experience and a film that is a must watch, regardless of whether you are a fan of the franchise or not. The film is certainly the surprise of the summer so far and it will hopefully be a film that will be remembered and considered a classic blockbuster in years to come. Bring on the Sequel.