The feel bad movie of Christmas.
The H-Bomb: Remakes are considered by many to be an ongoing epidemic plaguing Hollywood. Everyone bitches about them, they’re often sited as proof of how creatively bankrupt the movie industry has become, and overall they’re viewed as nothing more than cynical cash-ins. Normally, I myself share these sentiments, viewing remakes as pointless, unoriginal, and undeserving of my time or money. But in the case of David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, I can and must make an exception, because it is one remake that not only matches the original, but actually surpasses it.
Of course, this isn’t exactly a remake of the 2009 Swedish film, so much as it’s a new adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel, which is the first entry in what’s known as the “Millennium Trilogy”. The action is still set in Sweden, though everyone speaks English this time, and the plot is pretty much the same; Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is a journalist who steps down from his magazine after being convicted of libel. Soon after, he’s summoned out to an island owned by the rich and powerful Vanger family, where he is hired by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to investigate the disappearance of his niece, Harriet, who vanished 40 years ago, and who he believes was murdered by someone in the family.
The Vanger clan is a peculiar one, in which everyone lives in close proximity to each other, yet they never speak. As Blomkvist conducts his investigation, he comes to find that some of the family members are more cooperative than others, and everyone seems to have something to hide. Eventually, he finds himself in need of a research assistant, and turns to Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a punk computer hacker with a look and disposition that is somewhat unconventional, to put it mildly. She’s a girl with a painful past, a frosty demeanor, and her own unique way of dealing with people who cross her, be it a purse snatcher in the subway or her lecherous social guardian.
Reluctantly, Lisbeth agrees to help Blomkvist with the investigation, and as they dig deeper into the mystery of Harriet’s disappearance, they find evidence that she might have been the victim of a serial killer. Soon, they realize that their lives are in danger, as someone in the Vanger family does not want them to discover the truth about Harriet. All the while, an unlikely attraction between Blomkvist and Lisbeth starts to develop.
While I did like the Swedish film of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, I didn’t entirely love it. I felt it had too many issues to make it a great film; the pacing was off, it was difficult to keep track of all the characters, it was too long, and I just didn’t feel as drawn into the story as I felt I should have been. This new version rectifies most of these problems. Right away, from an exhilarating, James Bond-style opening credits sequence, this thing just grabbed me tightly by the nuts and didn’t let go until its final, melancholy moment. I can’t attest to whether this is more faithful to the novel, as I haven’t read it, but I can say, with certainty, that this new film is the version that I responded to more. Throw bricks at me if you must, but I just flat out liked this one better. And no, it has nothing to do with not having to read subtitles (though that certainly didn’t hurt).
Director Fincher and screenwriter Steve Zaillian not only fixed the first film’s imperfections, but actually improved on what that one got right. The mystery is completely captivating, methodically building tension with Trent Reznor’s and Atticus Ross’ offbeat music score helping to create a feeling of unease throughout. It moves at a deliberate pace, without ever becoming dull, and makes for a perfect companion piece to Fincher’s under-rated “Zodiac”, which this is, to me, reminiscent of, except with a lot more attitude. As the two leads, Craig and Mara play off each other well, each giving it as good as they take it, and their chemistry is terrific. Their rather chilly romance is perfectly believable, despite the age difference, which is brought up.
The film also doesn’t shy away from some of the uglier aspects of its Swedish counterpart, most notably the relationship between Lisbeth and her guardian. I won’t say exactly what goes down, but things do get nasty, and it is just as potent in this version as it was in the original. The guy sitting right next to me in the theater became visibly uncomfortable during these scenes, averting his eyes, squirming in his seat, and afterwards saying out loud, “This is too graphic for me.” It does indeed get pretty rough, and if you’re of the squeamish variety, you may just want to avoid this altogether. You may also want to pass on this if you’re a cat person, since something very bad happens to a certain feline at one point.
Much like Fincher’s previous film, “The Social Network”, this is very much an actor’s piece, and this time, he has brought some top level talent to the table. As Blomkvist, Craig gives what I would say is his best performance outside of Bond. I think he’s a tremendous improvement over the original Blomkvist, Michael Nyqvist. Don’t get me wrong, Nyqvist was good, but Craig is sympathetic and charismatic in a way that he wasn’t. Plummer, the veteran that he is, brings real gravitas to the role of the ailing Vanger patriarch. He perfectly conveys the sadness of a man whose great wealth has brought him very little happiness and who has been tormented over the years by not knowing the fate of his beloved niece. Stellan Skarsgard is just creepy as Martin Vanger, Henrik’s nephew. Even when he’s being nice, he’s still just creepy, and that’s why I fucking love him.
Of the entire cast, the one I initially had doubts about, the one potential weak link, was the girl with the dragon tattoo herself, Rooney Mara. It’s not just that Noomi Rapace, the original Lisbeth, seemed irreplaceable, it’s also that Mara seemed unlikely to be able to fill her Ass Kicker boots. She was good in her bit in “The Social Network”, but if she had been anymore lifeless in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” re-dud, she would have been playing a corpse. But, my concerns were misplaced, as she turned out to be every bit as amazing as Rapace ever was. She’s tough, brilliant, sexy, and disturbed. Her Lisbeth seemed to me to have a bit more warmth than Rapace’s, and by a bit, I mean a bit, as the character still is emotionally cold and distant. At one point she dons a t-shirt that reads “Fuck You, You Fucking Fuck.” Truly a chick after my own heart. Mara has made the role of Lisbeth Salander entirely her own, and I do see some award nominations in her near future.
I would say she steals the film, except that the rest of the film is almost just as good. Fincher, one of the best directors working today, has crafted a near masterpiece, marred only by over-length (the one flaw of the original they didn’t fix). People who haven’t read the book or seen the Swedish film may get a little lost in spots, and the Lisbeth/guardian subplot may seem extraneous to those not familiar with the entire “Millennium Trilogy”. I am a little nervous that they spent $100 million to make this thing, as this isn’t exactly a film that’s going to appeal to everyone, and if it fails to make its money back, it could prevent the rest of the trilogy from being made into films. And that would be too bad, as “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a dark, gripping mystery that is, while tough to take at times, intelligently written and flawlessly acted. Take it from the H, the feel bad movie of Christmas is one you do not want to miss!
