Sheep Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

***I'm going to split this review up into two parts. The first will be a straight review of this film. The second will be a comparison between the American version and the Swedish film.***

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher and staring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard is the film adaptation of the world wide best selling book trilogy by Stieg Larsson. If you missed the Swedish films, this movie is worth seeing, it's both sexually charged and competently acted, dark and twisted and for what it lacks in material it makes up for in visually stunning craftsmanship.

Plot:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in Columbia Pictures' three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson's literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy. Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon.

The whole draw of these films is its gritty underground feel. While Fincher's version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo does tap into the underground vibe, you're left a little short of the mark. Granted, it doesn't miss the mark by much but it never really takes it further than a nasty rape scene here and some bed play there. Would have liked to see a bit more darkness but that being said this movie is rated R and for a very good reason. It's not a movie for kids and some adults might not like it either. But aside from rape and bad hygiene the movie as a whole is definitely worth a watch. It's eye candy for those that love a cinematic experience.

Daniel Craig was tasked with the job of becoming Mikael Blomkvist, the Swedish reporter who's your average Joe when it comes to looks but has got the investigative nose which rivals a bloodhound. Sorry but average Joe he is NOT in the looks department, not his fault but those baby blue eyes kinda suck you right in. *sigh* Moving on...crafty and witty character which I felt Daniel does a decent job conveying those aspects the character. Daniel did the best he could within his bag of acting repertoire. Was he great in this movie? No, but he did well considering what he was working with. Leading lady Rooney Mara plays the gothic tech genius Lisbeth Salander, and in my opinion she may just become a new shinning star for Hollywood. On her own she carried this movie much further than I had expected.

Major product placement was prominent during the film (Apple and McDonald's being at the forefront) which only added to the corporate feel of the film. I personally could have done without those and felt like it took away from the movie's atmosphere. Overall the film taps into family secrets that would make a Borgia blush, including incest and psychopaths just to name a few. Unfortunately the movie ends up semi-flawed and turned horribly too romantic by the ending but it's strangely somewhat appealing.

The film doesn't come close to the original but it's not a complete waste of time either, you do find enough substance to walk away with.

Getting 3 and 1/2 Sheep

KD

***Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) Swedish version. Comparison***

Directed by Niels Arden Oplev and staring Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace. Compared to the US remake this film blows the remake utterly out of the water; undeniably one of the best films I've ever seen. It's a chilling detective tale done completely right and earns the right to be called a thrilling piece of drama. Set in the beautiful Scandinavian landscape this movie not only out-acts the 2011 film but is far more visually appealing as well. Noomi really breaths life into the character of Lisbeth, making her one not to be messed with, and while our leading man Michael may not have the looks of Craig he does a far better job at breathing life into the character.

This version of the film is far more than just good guys vs. bad guys, it's a rich story told with sincerity. While I understand the need for the Hollywood giant to tap into this series, I wish it would have just been left alone. Nothing you don't already see in the original is shown in the remake and the remake doesn't tell it any better. That may be debatable with others but I'll let you be the judge.

I'll say this, if you've yet to see the Swedish version you won't be disappointed. If you have seen the Swedish ones then prepare for a mangled version of a classically told mystery-thriller. I won't goes as far as to say it was "raped by Hollywood" but it was definitely taken on a date and roughly felt up by the end.

KD

WonderCon 2011-Priest

If someone asks me, "Hey, Paul Bettany is going to be at this panel at WonderCon, you wanna go check it out?", what other response would there be than HECK YEAH! Paul is my lemon flavored love cake for life, but we will get to that in a moment. ;) All the Sheep peeps made sure to park our butts front row to check out all the yummy goodness that is Priest.

Priest directed by Scott Charles Stewart, stars Paul Bettany (I love you for life), Karl Urban (good lord you are too fine for words), Cam Gigandet, Lilly Collins, Maggie Q, Christopher Plummer and Stephen Moyer (yes, that's Bill from TB).

Storyline:

PRIEST, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-happy young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

From Wikipedia:

Priest (Hangul: 프리스트) was a manhwa (Korean comic) series created by Hyung Min-woo. It fuses the Western genre with supernatural horror, Gun fu, and dark fantasy themes and is notable for its unusual, angular art style. An interview with Hyung in Priest: Volume 3 states that the comic was inspired by the computer game Blood, which featured a similar horror-Western aesthetic and an undead protagonist.

During the panel we got to learn quiet a bit about how Director Stewart was able to translate the comic to the big screen. He shared with us his views on where he wanted to take the film and how he was able to put all the pieces together and hopefully create something that fans will love. As action plays a large role in the film, Stewart shared that he wanted to blend many different styles of action and Sci Fi to make it a whole new recipe. We shall have to wait and see, but from what I could gather it's going to be one fun ride. ;)

We viewed some unseen footage of the different action sequences in the film, the whole cast had to undergo months of vigorous training to be able to do all these stunts. Of course stunt men were used, but the actors all wanted to do as much as they could. Here is a little bit of Cam and Paul talking about that training program.

Cam: "I don't think I had quiet the rigorous schedule as Paul. I think one of my hardest things was holding up that 70 lb gun. So my muscles right here [points to trap muscle] are quiet large. Aside from that as you guys saw I don't have the skill so I get my butt kicked in that scene. So yeah, Paul can probably answer that better. But he was born with that talent..."

Paul: "Yeah, that was like my Sunday. I don't know what you lot do on the weekend but this is just what I do. No, I am British and therefore I am starting from a butch deficit. I uh, yeah you don't have to clap so loudly. Play nice. I had 8 months of training to make me look like a normal human being. And then a bunch of combat training and a bunch of wire work, which I really loved doing. Then you got a bunch of people who's job it is to make you look REALLY cool. So you're getting a lot of help. And by the end of the movie Cam does get the skills. Not quiet as skillful as me but ya know maybe by Priest 2."

"I think I can speak for the whole cast and crew so I will, cause I am that confident. If you found any of the cast and crew on the street, they will say it was one of the greatest experiences of my professional career. We just, every day was a blast even the days that I got injured. Thanks to Vicodin actually...yeah, yeah so see both things were fairly great. But it was a fantastic shoot."

Lilly Collins talked a bit about her character in Priest, being the exact opposite from her previous role in The Blind Side. Her character Lucy starts outas kinda the damsel in distress, she says. But Lucy has Priest blood in her family, so though she never had to use those skills before she manages to become a fighter fairly quickly. Lilly loved the wire work and doing stunts and action she would like to continue playing these types of roles. She also announced at the panel that just the day before had accepted to play a role in Snow White alongside Julia Roberts.

With all these fine males in one film it's enough to make this girl swoon. No joke. Throw in a slamming good story, action, Sci Fi AND Vamps? This is a movie to die and reanimate for! May 13th you know where I will be. :)

KD