Better Lisbeth?

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2012)

Comparing Rooney Mara's performance from her Swedish predecessor's (Noomi Rapace) is hard to decide which actress played Lisbeth Salander better but at the climax of both movies the scene that's stuck in everyone's minds is the scene where she gets raped in such a violent way by her parole officer that it's hard to shake off this horrific scene. It's one of those scenes that is disturbing to watch yet you can't turn away from the screen. Lisbeth is such a character though that you would think that after all she's been through she would be able to fight back but she's so fragile and defenseless that you feel her pain and desperation that you wished you could help her in some way That's until she gets her sweet revenge. It's one of my guiltiest pleasures to watch Lisbeth take revenge on her oppressor in such a way that she turns him into a sheepish and obedient servant that she manipulates in whichever way she wants. No matter in what language these scenes are: they are what makes both The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo versions so compelling.
The only complain that I can think of is that the story attempts to cover way too much ground for just one movie. You don't know if you enjoyed the family mystery bit, or the murderer still on the loose bit, or Mikeal's scandal bit, or Lisbeth's personal struggle bit. It's hard to stay focused unless you're reading the novel series by Stieg Larsson which possibly cover as many subplots as possible and I bet it'd be a great read but it doesn't always translate well into one single film. Another peeve of mine is that I kept comparing both versions of the movie to the point where it was distracting me and I kept wondering: Was Lisbeth Salander more bisexual than the Swedish version? Was Mikeal Blomkvist more compelling the first time around or was he just uninteresting this time around (sorry Daniel Craig but I liked Michael Nyqvist better)? Did this new rape scene seem way longer than in the original version? Was the killer in the original version (or even the book version) more frightening than the new version (I shall not reveal who that is for those who still haven't seen it)?
And the biggest question I needed to ask is: why does Hollywood try to imitate every single successful movie out there? Are there not enough stories, best-seller novels or scripts out there that deserve the movie treatment? I think that Hollywood producers take American audiences for granted and they underestimate their appreciation for the arts. I'm sure if a movie is good in Chinese, or Swedish or Spanish then you should just watch it and not have to wait until they remake it in your native tongue, and you'd be surprised to know how many movies have been redone in the past that were better left alone: The Eye (better in its original Japanese version), Open Your Eyes (redone and retitled for American audiences as "Vanilla Sky", never able to imitate the original Spanish version), Diabolique (I heard the French version was much scarier than the American version starring Sharon Stone) or even Fright Night which was one of my favorite films in the 80's (I've heard the remake with Colin Farrel was really bad). One lesson to be learn here: if it ain't broken why try to fix it? READ MY FULL REVIEW IN MY BLOG: ITALO'S CORNER