Django Unchained
rating: *****
review: Jamie Foxx exhibits effortless cool in the title role of this initial period drama from Quentin Tarantino, featuring a thrilling showdown between Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio. Tarantino reaches new heights of focus with this one.
Seven Psychopaths
rating: *****
review: A cult favorite waiting to happen, and a hugely enjoyable ensemble that helps make it happen, along with Martin McDonough's undeniable skills as a storyteller, perhaps never more apparent, to date, in a movie.
The Dark Knight Rises
rating: *****
review: Where Christopher Nolan reached greatness with the help of a transcendent performance from Heath Ledger with The Dark Knight, here he achieves it by boldly completing his vision of the Batman saga.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
rating: *****
review: A must-see fable from the real-life tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
Killing Them Softly
rating: *****
review: The infrequent films of Andrew Dominik are always thrilling. Here he uses the gangster flick to critique the state of America.
Life of Pi
rating: *****
review: A transcendent book becomes a transcendent movie.
Total Recall
rating: ****
review: When a remake happens, especially of a well-known movie, it becomes difficult for most viewers to forget the prior version and just enjoy the merits of the new one. I haven't seen the original. I like this one quite a bit.
Mirror Mirror
rating: ****
review: Here's Tarsem distilled to his most accessible, with his version of Snow White, bursting with endearing charm, with fresh faces Lily Collins and Armie Hammer in the lead and Julia Roberts boldly embracing the villain's role.
A Thousand Words
rating: ****
review: At a time when they were both preparing to lay low, Eddie Murphy does what had been a typical Jim Carrey plot. It's the complete opposite of what Murphy is known for. Of course he nails it.
Savages
rating: ****
review: Oliver Stone's last great creative statement to date, stolen by supporting performances from Benicio Del Toro and John Travolta (his last great appearance in a film to date).
Flight
rating: ****
review: Denzel Washington's best recent performance (in a movie later somewhat copted by Tom Hanks in Sully), with a breakout cameo from James Badge Dale that Hollywood still hasn't caught up with.
Looper
rating: ****
review: Rian Johnson's high concept time travel story that's starting to look more and more old school Hollywood by today's standards: Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the young Bruce Willis.
The Amazing Spider-Man
rating: ****
review: Peter Parker was never more endearingly earnest, and believable, than depicted by Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield.
Liberal Arts
rating: ****
review: Josh Radnor, in his second attempt, nailing the transition from sitcom star to filmmaker.
Silver Linings Playbook
rating: ****
review: Bradley Cooper becomes a movie star.
Coriolanus
rating: ****
review: This must-see Shakespeare adaptation stars Ralph Fiennes and Gerard Butler.
Zero Dark Thirty
rating: ****
review: The hunt for Bin Laden, compellingly centered around Jessica Chastain.
End of Watch
rating: ****
review: Sort of Training Day without the big Denzel Washington scene. But still compelling.
Argo
rating: ****
review: Alan Arkin sort of steals this one, but it's still a welcome peak into history, and one of its most unlikely stories.
Lawless
rating: ****
review: Tom Hardy steals this one in a supporting role as the brother who's nearly impossible to kill.
Hyde Park on the Hudson
rating: ****
review: Unexpectedly perfect casting with Bill Murray playing FDR.
Trouble with the Curve
rating: ****
review: Clint Eastwood probably at his most cuddly.
Prometheus
rating: ****
review: A lot of fans were disappointed, but as someone who's not particularly invested in the series, this is my favorite in the Alien sequence.
Les Miserables
rating: ****
review: Anne Hathaway completely steals it.
Marvel's The Avengers
rating: ****
review: Joss Whedon successfully sets the tone for the MCU.
Rise of the Guardians
rating: ****
review: Basically Frozen before Frozen, moreso than Tangled, without the Disney model.
This Means War
rating: ****
review: Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as romantic comedy spies. It totally works.
MIB 3
rating: ***
review: If Will Smith can't have Tommy Lee Jones to bounce off of, at least Josh Brolin can mesmerize in his Jones impersonation.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
rating: ***
review: As someone who stopped loving the Lord of the Rings films basically after Fellowship of the Ring, this was basically a step in the right direction, even if Peter Jackson still gets lost trying to keep the journey thrilling. But it gets better in later entries.
Wrath of the Titans
rating: ***
review: A straight action sequel to Clash of the Titans.
John Carter
rating: ***
review: This one's become a sort of cult favorite, with adherents insisting the trailer screwed it all up. But the truth is, the lead character, and not so much Taylor Kitsch, is too generic. Basically Disney preparing to acquire Star Wars.
Chronicle
rating: ***
review: A found-footage superhero flick. The only problem here is the complete charisma void in the cast.
Cloud Atlas
rating: ***
review: I think if the focus had centered on Tom Hanks, rather than a sprawling cast of characters played by a small number of actors, it would've been a greater success.
Skyfall
rating: ***
review: Daniel Craig's Bond forgets what made him cool, and just sort of tried to be artful.
For Greater Glory
rating: ***
review: An earnest historical Christian drama.
The Hunger Games
rating: ***
review: Having somewhat reluctantly read the books, I was shocked at how little effort was made to capture the story. I don't mind different interpretations. But this is like Peter Jackson randomly changing things in his Lord of the Rings, mistakenly believing he's making sound creative decisions. The epitome is the "girl on fire" dress that...doesn't nail it. At all.
Ice Age: Continental Drift
rating: **
review: An increasingly perfunctory series.
Wreck-It Ralph
rating: **
review: I think this was just a bad year for animated movies. This one's far too complicated.
Brave
rating: **
review: Pixar officially just makes a typical Disney film.
Hotel Transylvania
rating: *
review: I had to endure repeated screenings of this one. Whatever charm it possesses is betrayed by extremely obnoxious distractions.
Monday, May 27, 2019
2011 Capsule Reviews
Warrior
rating: *****
review: Perhaps the most recent example of old school Hollywood, Tom Hardy's Marlon Brando moment (following in the footsteps of Leo DiCaprio in The Departed), and finally introducing Joel Edgerton to the big time. So no, it's not really an MMA movie. It's great drama, period.
The Adjustment Bureau
rating: *****
review: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in the romance edition of The Matrix, arguably the best film adapted from a Philip K. Dick story.
Source Code
rating: *****
review: This was a really great year for high concept science fiction. Jake Gyllenhaal in his best movie, a time-repeats-itself drama that builds on the Avatar conceit of a crippled man given a second chance, and seizing it. The result ends up becoming a parable for rejecting the conclusions others take for granted, and finding the path to happiness.
Midnight in Paris
rating: *****
review: My personal favorite Woody Allen film, with Corey Stoll stealing it as Ernest Hemingway, with Owen Wilson at last finding a mature role, in which he discovers everyone's golden age is just another illusion.
The Tree of Life
rating: *****
review: Terrence Malick's most visionary, expansive vision, a truly ethereal experience anchored by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain in one of her first standout roles as parents just trying to keep it together.
Winnie the Pooh
rating: *****
review: A perfect version of the children's classic.
London Boulevard
rating: ****
review: Most gangster flicks seem to misunderstand glamourizing their subject matter with telling a compelling story. Colin Farrell plays one who desperately wants out because he realizes he's too good at it. But fate plays cruel tricks on all of us.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
rating: ****
review: The final act in the saga has everything except that elusive spark that typifies the best entries in the series, including the later Fantastic Beasts.
Green Lantern
rating: ****
review: For most observers this is a notorious failure, but I think it brilliantly captures everything that's magical, and even transcendent, about its source material, with yet another standout spotlight for Ryan Reynolds, an actor with the rare gift to sell emotion and comedy equally well.
Fright Night
rating: ****
review: The late Anton Yelchin leads a strong cast that also includes Colin Farrell and David Tennant in a rare remake that merely enjoys the potential of the source material.
Immortals
rating: ****
review: Mostly dismissed as a 300 knockoff, this is another excellent example of Tarsem's visionary storytelling, allowing a pre-Superman Henry Cavill to play low-key while Mickey Rourke gets to play the Russell Crowe/Gerard Butler menace that was his template to its obvious conclusions, this time as the villain.
The Way Back
rating: ****
review: A terrific ensemble led by Jim Sturges when he was still considered lead actor material, with Ed Harris and Colin Farrell (pulling off a wicked Russian accent) in a story of endurance and redemption.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
rating: ****
review: Christopher Plummer and Daniel Craig add considerable credibility to this Hollywood version of the literary smash hit, but Rooney Mara grabs the spotlight as Lisbeth Salander, in a performance that critics, audiences, and Mara herself have yet to fully appreciate.
Bridesmaids
rating: ****
review: An ensemble comedy classic headlined by Kristen Wiig but stolen by Melissa McCarthy's breakout performance.
Moneyball
rating: ****
review: I waited years to catch up with this one, fearing that it would be tedious, even though I was familiar, and interested, in the source material. But as it turns out, it really is a compelling spotlight for Brad Pitt, and a fine baseball movie, too.
Water for Elephants
rating: ****
review: Robert Pattinson in his one bid for standard Hollywood glory to date, and he nails it.
Larry Crowne
rating: ****
review: An underrated Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts pairing stolen by the criminally underrate Mbatha-Raw.
The Muppets
rating: ****
review: Jason Segal got a chance to make this thanks to the arguably superior Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but the sequel's better, and funnier.
Cowboys & Aliens
rating: ****
review: Despite being billed as James Bond Meets Indiana Jones, this is really another standout Daniel Craig vehicle with Harrison Ford putting in an excellent supporting turn.
Super 8
rating: ****
review: Yeah, yeah, J.J. Abrams doing his version of Spielberg. But it's really the welcome featured performance of Kyle Chandler that interests me. Guy gets too little recognition.
Horrible Bosses
rating: ****
review: Basically a version of The Hangover without, y'know, a hangover, just dimwit friends trying desperately to get out of trouble. The real highlight is the trio of big stars in supporting roles (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Aniston) playing the eponymous bosses, and clearly enjoying the opportunity.
Sucker Punch
rating: ****
review: Zack Snyder's big for an original vision typically made male viewers uncomfortable with a female cast.
Hanna
rating: ****
review: Saoirse Ronan convincingly takes top billing over Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana in this Joe Wright drama.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
rating: ****
review: The fourth in the series effectively is the tonal reboot equivalent of the fourth Fast & Furious, the one that set the standard for what followed, and all it took was Tom Cruise joining the brief bandwagon of Jeremy Renner threatening to take everything over.
X-Men: First Class
rating: ****
review: Though overwrought in its Nazi details, this quasi-reboot nails it in finally centering the drama around Magneto and Professor X, brilliantly recast with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, respectively.
Fast Five
rating: ****
review: The year the MCU Avengers cycle ramped up production to meet its first
shared universe" destination later, the Fast & Furious films got there first, integrating all previous films and fatefully adding someone new: Dwayne Johnson.
The Descendants
rating: ****
review: George Clooney sought so desperately for a mature spotlight, but ironically all it really took was being willing to look vulnerable. And thus a perfect mature spotlight.
Machine Gun Preacher
rating: ****
review: Apparently the technical veracity of the real story behind the film is, ah, somewhat up for question, but this is as perfect a dramatic spotlight as Gerard Butler is ever going to find.
HappyThankYouMorePlease
rating: ***
review: Josh Radnor's initial attempt to replicate Zach Braff's movie success is a minor victory.
The Conspirator
rating: ***
review: The trial of the surviving Lincoln assassin conspirators centers around whether or not it was okay to condemn a woman (Robin Wright). I'm not sure it really succeeds, but it at least expands the traditional narrative of the events.
Hugo
rating: ***
review: Scorsese sort of reaches for Harry Potter, but betrays his greater interest in old Hollywood.
The Artist
rating: ***
review: An Oscar winner that leans heavily into the obvious. If this had been old Hollywood, the stars would've been more charismatic.
Mr. Popper's Penguins
rating: ***
review: Jim Carrey's last leading role (to that point) leans heavily on those adorable penguins, inexplicably leaving him little to do but play in support.
The Debt
rating: ***
review: I'm not part of the cult of Helen Mirren. I have enjoyed Mirren performances, but mostly I think too many filmmakers have mistakenly assumed her appeal is broad. I think her presence in the final act of this one spoils a terrific Sam Worthington/Jessica Chastain spotlight.
The Hangover Part II
rating: ***
review: The gang is back together! And it's good harmless fun letting them repeat themselves.
Captain America: The First Avenger
rating: ***
review: Chris Evans can do everything but make Cap compelling in a movie that basically just wants him to end up in ice after everything he goes through just to get in the fight.
Unknown
rating: ***
review: The Liam Neeson action vehicle was just getting underway when he starred in this amnesia flick.
Thor
rating: ***
review: The best thing about it is Tom Hiddleston's supporting role as Loki, which turned out to be exactly what later films needed.
Courageous
rating: ***
review: An urgent Christian drama with a breakout moment featuring a Hispanic dude pret3ending to be a gangster.
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
rating: ***
review: I have yet to see the previous entries, but it just seems, in this one, that Robert Rodriquez gets lost in the action.
Puss in Boots
rating: ***
review: This Shrek spinoff is best appreciated as the never-gonna-happen-otherwise third Zorro flick starring Antonio Banderas.
The Green Hornet
rating: ***
review: I bet the studio is kicking itself for letting Seth Rogen star in this, when it could've easily, given the later MCU examples, cast a more traditional superhero actor, with the same comedic outlook, and gotten years of sequels out of it.
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
rating: ***
review: Here's another tiny minority in which I'm a part: I loved the first one. This one is comparatively too streamlined, leaning away, inexplicably, from the absurdist humor that defined the first one.
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
rating: **
review: This is the only way I could possibly not feel bad for the guy who infamously won and lost the Tonight Show, by making it sort of clear that either he became an attention whore because of it, or maybe was all along. I can't believe the makers of this documentary didn't realize how unsympathetic they made this portrait, at the height of public sympathy for the guy.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
rating: **
review: I thought this was all but a complete disaster. I have never seen the sequels.
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
rating: *
review: Whoever financed this made no effort at all to make it compelling. Wow. Good job!
rating: *****
review: Perhaps the most recent example of old school Hollywood, Tom Hardy's Marlon Brando moment (following in the footsteps of Leo DiCaprio in The Departed), and finally introducing Joel Edgerton to the big time. So no, it's not really an MMA movie. It's great drama, period.
The Adjustment Bureau
rating: *****
review: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in the romance edition of The Matrix, arguably the best film adapted from a Philip K. Dick story.
Source Code
rating: *****
review: This was a really great year for high concept science fiction. Jake Gyllenhaal in his best movie, a time-repeats-itself drama that builds on the Avatar conceit of a crippled man given a second chance, and seizing it. The result ends up becoming a parable for rejecting the conclusions others take for granted, and finding the path to happiness.
Midnight in Paris
rating: *****
review: My personal favorite Woody Allen film, with Corey Stoll stealing it as Ernest Hemingway, with Owen Wilson at last finding a mature role, in which he discovers everyone's golden age is just another illusion.
The Tree of Life
rating: *****
review: Terrence Malick's most visionary, expansive vision, a truly ethereal experience anchored by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain in one of her first standout roles as parents just trying to keep it together.
Winnie the Pooh
rating: *****
review: A perfect version of the children's classic.
London Boulevard
rating: ****
review: Most gangster flicks seem to misunderstand glamourizing their subject matter with telling a compelling story. Colin Farrell plays one who desperately wants out because he realizes he's too good at it. But fate plays cruel tricks on all of us.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
rating: ****
review: The final act in the saga has everything except that elusive spark that typifies the best entries in the series, including the later Fantastic Beasts.
Green Lantern
rating: ****
review: For most observers this is a notorious failure, but I think it brilliantly captures everything that's magical, and even transcendent, about its source material, with yet another standout spotlight for Ryan Reynolds, an actor with the rare gift to sell emotion and comedy equally well.
Fright Night
rating: ****
review: The late Anton Yelchin leads a strong cast that also includes Colin Farrell and David Tennant in a rare remake that merely enjoys the potential of the source material.
Immortals
rating: ****
review: Mostly dismissed as a 300 knockoff, this is another excellent example of Tarsem's visionary storytelling, allowing a pre-Superman Henry Cavill to play low-key while Mickey Rourke gets to play the Russell Crowe/Gerard Butler menace that was his template to its obvious conclusions, this time as the villain.
The Way Back
rating: ****
review: A terrific ensemble led by Jim Sturges when he was still considered lead actor material, with Ed Harris and Colin Farrell (pulling off a wicked Russian accent) in a story of endurance and redemption.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
rating: ****
review: Christopher Plummer and Daniel Craig add considerable credibility to this Hollywood version of the literary smash hit, but Rooney Mara grabs the spotlight as Lisbeth Salander, in a performance that critics, audiences, and Mara herself have yet to fully appreciate.
Bridesmaids
rating: ****
review: An ensemble comedy classic headlined by Kristen Wiig but stolen by Melissa McCarthy's breakout performance.
Moneyball
rating: ****
review: I waited years to catch up with this one, fearing that it would be tedious, even though I was familiar, and interested, in the source material. But as it turns out, it really is a compelling spotlight for Brad Pitt, and a fine baseball movie, too.
Water for Elephants
rating: ****
review: Robert Pattinson in his one bid for standard Hollywood glory to date, and he nails it.
Larry Crowne
rating: ****
review: An underrated Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts pairing stolen by the criminally underrate Mbatha-Raw.
The Muppets
rating: ****
review: Jason Segal got a chance to make this thanks to the arguably superior Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but the sequel's better, and funnier.
Cowboys & Aliens
rating: ****
review: Despite being billed as James Bond Meets Indiana Jones, this is really another standout Daniel Craig vehicle with Harrison Ford putting in an excellent supporting turn.
Super 8
rating: ****
review: Yeah, yeah, J.J. Abrams doing his version of Spielberg. But it's really the welcome featured performance of Kyle Chandler that interests me. Guy gets too little recognition.
Horrible Bosses
rating: ****
review: Basically a version of The Hangover without, y'know, a hangover, just dimwit friends trying desperately to get out of trouble. The real highlight is the trio of big stars in supporting roles (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Aniston) playing the eponymous bosses, and clearly enjoying the opportunity.
Sucker Punch
rating: ****
review: Zack Snyder's big for an original vision typically made male viewers uncomfortable with a female cast.
Hanna
rating: ****
review: Saoirse Ronan convincingly takes top billing over Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana in this Joe Wright drama.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
rating: ****
review: The fourth in the series effectively is the tonal reboot equivalent of the fourth Fast & Furious, the one that set the standard for what followed, and all it took was Tom Cruise joining the brief bandwagon of Jeremy Renner threatening to take everything over.
X-Men: First Class
rating: ****
review: Though overwrought in its Nazi details, this quasi-reboot nails it in finally centering the drama around Magneto and Professor X, brilliantly recast with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, respectively.
Fast Five
rating: ****
review: The year the MCU Avengers cycle ramped up production to meet its first
shared universe" destination later, the Fast & Furious films got there first, integrating all previous films and fatefully adding someone new: Dwayne Johnson.
The Descendants
rating: ****
review: George Clooney sought so desperately for a mature spotlight, but ironically all it really took was being willing to look vulnerable. And thus a perfect mature spotlight.
Machine Gun Preacher
rating: ****
review: Apparently the technical veracity of the real story behind the film is, ah, somewhat up for question, but this is as perfect a dramatic spotlight as Gerard Butler is ever going to find.
HappyThankYouMorePlease
rating: ***
review: Josh Radnor's initial attempt to replicate Zach Braff's movie success is a minor victory.
The Conspirator
rating: ***
review: The trial of the surviving Lincoln assassin conspirators centers around whether or not it was okay to condemn a woman (Robin Wright). I'm not sure it really succeeds, but it at least expands the traditional narrative of the events.
Hugo
rating: ***
review: Scorsese sort of reaches for Harry Potter, but betrays his greater interest in old Hollywood.
The Artist
rating: ***
review: An Oscar winner that leans heavily into the obvious. If this had been old Hollywood, the stars would've been more charismatic.
Mr. Popper's Penguins
rating: ***
review: Jim Carrey's last leading role (to that point) leans heavily on those adorable penguins, inexplicably leaving him little to do but play in support.
The Debt
rating: ***
review: I'm not part of the cult of Helen Mirren. I have enjoyed Mirren performances, but mostly I think too many filmmakers have mistakenly assumed her appeal is broad. I think her presence in the final act of this one spoils a terrific Sam Worthington/Jessica Chastain spotlight.
The Hangover Part II
rating: ***
review: The gang is back together! And it's good harmless fun letting them repeat themselves.
Captain America: The First Avenger
rating: ***
review: Chris Evans can do everything but make Cap compelling in a movie that basically just wants him to end up in ice after everything he goes through just to get in the fight.
Unknown
rating: ***
review: The Liam Neeson action vehicle was just getting underway when he starred in this amnesia flick.
Thor
rating: ***
review: The best thing about it is Tom Hiddleston's supporting role as Loki, which turned out to be exactly what later films needed.
Courageous
rating: ***
review: An urgent Christian drama with a breakout moment featuring a Hispanic dude pret3ending to be a gangster.
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
rating: ***
review: I have yet to see the previous entries, but it just seems, in this one, that Robert Rodriquez gets lost in the action.
Puss in Boots
rating: ***
review: This Shrek spinoff is best appreciated as the never-gonna-happen-otherwise third Zorro flick starring Antonio Banderas.
The Green Hornet
rating: ***
review: I bet the studio is kicking itself for letting Seth Rogen star in this, when it could've easily, given the later MCU examples, cast a more traditional superhero actor, with the same comedic outlook, and gotten years of sequels out of it.
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
rating: ***
review: Here's another tiny minority in which I'm a part: I loved the first one. This one is comparatively too streamlined, leaning away, inexplicably, from the absurdist humor that defined the first one.
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
rating: **
review: This is the only way I could possibly not feel bad for the guy who infamously won and lost the Tonight Show, by making it sort of clear that either he became an attention whore because of it, or maybe was all along. I can't believe the makers of this documentary didn't realize how unsympathetic they made this portrait, at the height of public sympathy for the guy.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
rating: **
review: I thought this was all but a complete disaster. I have never seen the sequels.
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
rating: *
review: Whoever financed this made no effort at all to make it compelling. Wow. Good job!
Saturday, May 4, 2019
The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
rating: ****
the story: The focus shifts squarely to Lisbeth Salander.
review: Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy became a full-fledged literary phenomenon a decade ago, a Swedish sensation that made its way to Americans with the first entry becoming known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is the name it went by for the 2011 Hollywood adaptation headlined by director David Fincher and actors Rooney Mara as Lisbeth and Daniel Craig, then still at the height of his 007 fame, as crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Arguably Craig's Blomvist was the lead character in the movie. Hollywood, unlike Sweden, never adapted the rest of the trilogy, which heavily swings the attention toward Salander, as with the later books written by David Lagercrantz, the first of which Girl in the Spider's Web adapts. With popular phenomenons, you never know exactly what audiences are responding to. I naturally assumed everyone else gravitated to Salander as an ultimately sympathetic figure, but now it seems attention was gained over morbid curiosity. If more fans had been like me, Girl in the Spider's Web would've been received quite differently.
As it is, the second Hollywood Salander movie landed as a dud. It's not because of the movie. Blomkvist, as in the books, take a clear backseat to Salander this time, cast as with much of the film without a star in mind. Lisbeth Salander is herself once again played by a relative unknown, a would-be star-making role for Claire Foy (as it more or less failed to be for Mara as well, somehow). The biggest name in the cast is actually Stephen Merchant, who wears a number of creative hats, playing the guy who creates the program celebrated hacker Salander spends the movie trying to protect, as well as his son, while she battles her evil twin sister.
The movie, as with its cast, seeks to present an authentic version of Sweden, moreso than its 2011 predecessor, and as such feels far more European than Hollywood. It's otherwise a fairly standard stylish thriller, except that it centers on Lisbeth Salander. The movie pivots but doesn't dwell on her real world mystique, hinging on all the familiar elements but more or less expecting audiences to care as much about Salander as they did a decade ago. Clearly a miscalculation. The trailer, featuring a hostile Salander attacking a man suspended upside down, didn't sell the story so much as the hope that Salander remained an icon, an archetypal feminist for a feminist age. But I think she ended up seeing too hostile, too alienating. This is a character who became increasingly humanized and sympathetic, as I said, in later book appearances. I cried reading Larsson's final entry, when the justice system finally acknowledges her, vindicating her.
But we don't really live in a world where we easily accept iconoclasts, rebels like Lisbeth Salander, and ironically a movie that celebrates her as her own worthy lead character ends up rejected, just as Salander was always envisioned by Larsson in his fictional tales, as just another eccentric outsider. But she is compelling, and she is worth celebrating, and Girl in the Spider's Web does an excellent job conveying that, as well as her infinitely complicated family history. Even heroes have sibling rivalry issues.
Bottom line, this is a movie that will remind you of what made Lisbeth Salander so memorable to begin with. You just have to remember that she was memorable, in and of herself, in the best possible way.
the story: The focus shifts squarely to Lisbeth Salander.
review: Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy became a full-fledged literary phenomenon a decade ago, a Swedish sensation that made its way to Americans with the first entry becoming known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is the name it went by for the 2011 Hollywood adaptation headlined by director David Fincher and actors Rooney Mara as Lisbeth and Daniel Craig, then still at the height of his 007 fame, as crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Arguably Craig's Blomvist was the lead character in the movie. Hollywood, unlike Sweden, never adapted the rest of the trilogy, which heavily swings the attention toward Salander, as with the later books written by David Lagercrantz, the first of which Girl in the Spider's Web adapts. With popular phenomenons, you never know exactly what audiences are responding to. I naturally assumed everyone else gravitated to Salander as an ultimately sympathetic figure, but now it seems attention was gained over morbid curiosity. If more fans had been like me, Girl in the Spider's Web would've been received quite differently.
As it is, the second Hollywood Salander movie landed as a dud. It's not because of the movie. Blomkvist, as in the books, take a clear backseat to Salander this time, cast as with much of the film without a star in mind. Lisbeth Salander is herself once again played by a relative unknown, a would-be star-making role for Claire Foy (as it more or less failed to be for Mara as well, somehow). The biggest name in the cast is actually Stephen Merchant, who wears a number of creative hats, playing the guy who creates the program celebrated hacker Salander spends the movie trying to protect, as well as his son, while she battles her evil twin sister.
The movie, as with its cast, seeks to present an authentic version of Sweden, moreso than its 2011 predecessor, and as such feels far more European than Hollywood. It's otherwise a fairly standard stylish thriller, except that it centers on Lisbeth Salander. The movie pivots but doesn't dwell on her real world mystique, hinging on all the familiar elements but more or less expecting audiences to care as much about Salander as they did a decade ago. Clearly a miscalculation. The trailer, featuring a hostile Salander attacking a man suspended upside down, didn't sell the story so much as the hope that Salander remained an icon, an archetypal feminist for a feminist age. But I think she ended up seeing too hostile, too alienating. This is a character who became increasingly humanized and sympathetic, as I said, in later book appearances. I cried reading Larsson's final entry, when the justice system finally acknowledges her, vindicating her.
But we don't really live in a world where we easily accept iconoclasts, rebels like Lisbeth Salander, and ironically a movie that celebrates her as her own worthy lead character ends up rejected, just as Salander was always envisioned by Larsson in his fictional tales, as just another eccentric outsider. But she is compelling, and she is worth celebrating, and Girl in the Spider's Web does an excellent job conveying that, as well as her infinitely complicated family history. Even heroes have sibling rivalry issues.
Bottom line, this is a movie that will remind you of what made Lisbeth Salander so memorable to begin with. You just have to remember that she was memorable, in and of herself, in the best possible way.
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