Better Than Expected

Rating: 7/10 (25 November 2012)

After seeing Hollywood massacre Tinker , Tailor, last night, my expectations were very low going into another remake. However, this was a much better effort. Taken in its own right, the Hollywood version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a pretty good thriller - until the last 25 minutes, which where clearly tacked on to pave the way for the next installment. Still, the story moved along with a nice brisk pace. Sometimes too brisk. The other obvious problem is the failure to make the tangled Vanger family tree clear. Most of the time, I had no idea how the various family members were related. It was very confusing.
As Hollywood remakes go, it was good try. But they just could help selling out. I guess they assume that the US public couldn't take someone as edgy and threatening to middle class values as the original Salander. Compared to original version, the movie suffers badly because Hollywood took a lot of the edges off Lisabeth Salander. They kept most of the surface features, but underneath she was a very different character than the Lisabeth from the original. In the original, she was clearly a hacker. In the Hollywood version, she portrayed more socially acceptably as a researcher, who, by the way, could get around computer security. This was minor compared to the character transformation. The only shot of her in the spiked hair is in the beginning of the Hollywood, in what you might call a half spike. You never see the full Lisabeth punk look. They completely gilded her menace, and most of all, her strength, independence and her "I don't care" attitude. The final scene was 100% contrary her nature in the original. It was a classic Hollywood sell out. They just couldn't handle the Lisabeth from the original.
Part of the problem was Rooney Mara, who seemed like a nice girl from the suburbs in a costume and not a like a feral survivor who would set her father on fire and extract violent revenge on whoever crossed her. Try as she could, she just wasn't believable when she says "I'm crazy." Her features are too regular. She looks too normal. In contrast, Noomi Repace has those angular features that make her look like she's ready to taser you any moment.