Yes, No, Maybe So: "...Dragon Tattoo"
Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:46AM I've waffled on whether or not to give the trailer to David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo the yes, no, maybe so treatment. The teaser was an explosive example of what film advertising can be when it escapes its rigid little box. That rush of images and punk spirit promising the 'Feel. Bad. Movie. Of. Christmas.' just Felt.Good. in an A+ way. But did you ever see it in a theater? I did a couple of times and felt nothing from the audience (you know how you can sometimes absorb the collective excitement levels when a teaser/trailer is playing or at least the second it ends?) so maybe Moviegoers and Hollywood need the rigid little box of 2 and ½ minute plot and character intros as security blanket and insurance policy respectively.
So now they give us the normal kind of trailer introducing us to the plot and characters that 75 million are intimately familiar with already. Meet anti-social, abused, violent, brilliant Lisbeth Salander, now played by Rooney Mara with sick earrings, mad multiple hairstylings and a wondrous lack of comforting eyebrows.
the breakdown plus the new trailer after the jump.
So here we go...
YES
- Zodiac (2007): That should give anyway faith in Fincher's directorial skill. He can even make the minutae of unsolved procedurals super riveting... which is quite an abnormal talent.
- Rooney Mara: Her big eyes, quick tongue, and accessible prettiness, all so engaging in the short time The Social Network made use of them are now robbed of that new familiarity. It's just a trailer but I love the battle between unintentional unguarded flashes of emotion and the masked indifference we're seeing from her purposefully off-putting ghostly visage, shorn of comforting eyebrows and prettifying makeup. I'm not saying she'll be competing for Best Actress -- who the hell knows -- but aren't you eager to see how she handles this already famous role?
- David Fincher + filmmaking team: Everyone is on board again and what a team he gathers, inspires and reuses. See also: The Social Network, Panic Room, Fight Club, Se7en, etcetera.
- Fine Cast: Daniel Craig, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Plummer, etcetera
- Deadpan Humor: a surprise.
Sometimes he pleasures her. Not enough in my opinion."
NO
- The Accents: I don't want to make too big a point of it but I'm not sure I understand. They all sound like they're in the same movie (a comfort) but I'm not sure that movie is taking place in Sweden (a puzzler).
- No Hook: There's something a little rote and flat about this with no big payoff at the end... or is it just hangover longing for the sick punch of that teaser?
I shouldn't keep beating that drum but it was so seismic.
MAYBE SO
- Trilogy: It seems foolish to remind audiences that you're adapting a bestselling trilogy... when there's no reassurance you'd make the other two. Why not just say "bestseller"?
- Otherwise I got nothing. It's Fincher so you know it's at least going to be super competent and stylishly delivered.
- Promising Moment Or More of Same: "I want you to help me capture a killer of women." The book, originally titled Men Who Hate Women, spawned a franchise of literary and cinematic proportions that has the same problem as many violent thrillers. It's fetishistic fascination with the detailed brutalization, rape and murders of women can often appear hypocritically misogynistic. Hopefully Fincher can steer around this problem somehow.
The Trailer in Question
Where do you fall with this one now that you've seen more footage? Do you see any Oscar play ahead?
Reader Comments (29)
This film is going to live or die based on Rooney Mara's performance. Noomi Rapace is the reason to see any of the original films and Mara needs to do the same thing here. It's foolish to judge a performance based on a trailer. I'm hoping she find her own interpretation of the character that works for the story.
The score sounds excellent. I could see Reznor/Ross getting nominated for this. Makeup could happen if the film takes off in awards season.
I personally had enough of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ... there are plenty of mystery books out there, why do the same thing over and over? And about the accents - why fake an accent if the whole purpose of the remake is to have the movie in English?
i'm a definite yes - somehow i've managed to avoid nearly all knowledge of this phenomenon; i know of the title, the main character's name and the existence of the original film but absolutely nothing else, so i was fascinated by the entire three minutes and forty-five seconds of the trailer
plus the cast and director have me on side, so there's no no or maybe so for me
I think one of the things that made the (first) book work is that after you take away all the cyberpunk Swedish S&M exoticism, it was basically a pretty traditional "locked room" mystery. I mean, that scenario of the dead body locked from the inside in a library is one old plotline, but it's compelling; there's always a "How did that happen?" question added to the "Whodunnit?" The original Dragon Tattoo book gave us that scenario except instead of a library, it was an island with no bridge. So, it was a pretty traditional mystery cloaked inside a titillating and seemingly new package. I have a hunch the traditional mystery is lost by now. People either know who did it or they don't care, and thus I have a feeling that without the mystery, the movie will have to hold up based on performances, accents, socially responsible messaging, etc. I don't think it will.
Having said all that, I'm a David Fincher fan, so I will go see it. So maybe I have no idea what I am talking about...
This is exactly the kind of novel that makes great movies, though. (The Swedish Dragon Tattoo is around a B.) As much as it's a mediocre book, remember that The Godfather and Touch of Evil started as standard, dime a dozen thrillers as well.
par3182 said it all for me. And I thought I was the only person on this site who hadn't seen the original film, or even seen the trailer for it much less read the book. So I was intrigued by this as I have no prior baggage. (Admittedly, something about the trailer, especially the drained, wintry color palette, kept reminding me of The Ghost Writer, which was a big plus for me, although I know they are two very different films.)
That said, my question to everyone here would be - Should I see the Swedish version before seeing Fincher's? Or is that necessary? (If only to compare Noomi's performance with Mara's?)
Deadpan humor: "I'm reading your notes" "It's incrypted" *beat* "Please". Loved that. That is deappan, folks.
@timothy and volvagia - regarding "mediocre novels", I recall an essay I read nearly 20 years ago in which the author talked about that very subject, mediocre novels/great movies, using their own favorite "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" as an example. I'm sure we could make a whole list of such - The Maltese Falcon certainly isn't a "great" novel IMO, and I'm not sure the movie is "great" but it certainly is iconic.
I loved the Swedish films mainly because I didn't know what to expect. I love the tease for the remake, especially now since I am reading the novels. I am curious to see how faithful the script is because the source material is DENSE. It's great to see the images play out in the teaser. As for Mara, I hope she can do the part justice. Noomi Rapace had an unflinching and uncompromising intensity that she sustained throughout the movies. I'm rooting for Mara while others are already proclaiming failure from the trailer.
I want they to make the three adaptations with different directors. Maybe Fincher, Jonathan Demme and Michael Mann? Oy an international team: Fincher, Fernando Meirelles and Bong Joon-ho? They keep the actors and bring different auteurs, just like in Harry Potter. It'd be nice.
BTW - I just watched the teaser trailer you mentioned Nat and it is sensational - for a movie trailer. But it's also essentially a minute+ music video. Taken on it's own would it have made me want to see the movie? Probably not. (And I'm sure it's probably a bit misleading - the full-length trailer doesn't convey the thrill-ride promised by the teaser.)
I wasn't a fan of the teaser trailer and I liked this even less. However, like J.Edgar (which also has a trailer I wasn't found of), I'll be seeing it out of the faint hope that it might surprise. Therefore, YES I'll see it but my expectation are fairly low.
No -
Even if they're generally accepted, especially if a big name is behind (what was a flat character last year, now suddenly it isn't. Interesting), remakes of recent foreign hits suck the life off their originals. In the end they're just the Queen's painted roses in Alice, she likes the roses but only as long as they look they way she wants to.
Regardless of that, I've tried to see the trailer with open eyes. It's way too long, almost 4 minutes for a trailer of a movie everyone and his neightbour knows the plot? What I see it is a stylish and expensive trailer, or looks expensive at least compared to the Swedish.
Yes-
Robin Wright, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer. Don't feel the unconditional and unanimous love for Mara having seen her only in a few scenes in a movie. Just the same way I wouldn't marry a one night stand the following morning.
Maybe
What happened to the nipple showing in the poster? I mean will they go fully NC-17, as it would if they followed the book or will they recut it to get to a wider audience?
Without the mystery, this will be enjoyable sorely because of Fincher's style and the actors. Which may or may not be enough.
I don't like overly long trailers, though. The teaser was so much cooler.
It's not a bad trailer, just not the punch in the gut (in a good way) that that teaser was. On the off-chance that someone somehow hasn't heard of this story, it does a good job of setting it up. I'll probably see it, despite having read (and loved) the books and seen the Swedish film. I just don't really see a need to make this film - Daniel Craig looks good, and I will always be an advocate for giving Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer, and Stellan Skarsgard jobs, but... I just can't work up the excitement about a film that I've already seen (not much more than a year ago) based on a book I know inside and out.
As for Rooney Mara, I was underwhelmed by Noomi Rapace's performance, but Lisbeth is such an internal character that I can't imagine any actress making her as dynamic a presence onscreen as she is in the books. It looks like they've fleshed out her character a bit more here than in the Swedish film, but I'm still skeptical.
Oh yes! I wanna feel bad on Christmas! (my gosh, this sounds so naughty)
I was relived about Rooney's accent--she pulls it off well. I've heard from some that there are people in Sweden who tend to speak the "Queen's English" so I suppose Daniel's accent can be accepted that way. Nevertheless, it wasn't as distracting as I thought it was.
I think Mara will be a contender if the film explodes and she is the revelation people are hoping for. She's young and hot and has an edge that may translate well.
You all are talking as if Dragon Tattoo's story/characters are well-known to most Americans. Perhaps it is to city-dwellers who read, but to the rest of the country (especially young people) they've heard of the books but know nothing else. So this trailer was necessary.
Yes. Fincher makes all the difference in the world.
can't watch this trailer... too long! I'll stick to the first one.
Yes. I haven't seen the original and I refuse to see it until I see the American version.
I'm under the impression that the only reason the Swedish films did well was because of Noomi Rapace. This movie shows more elements to make the overall story more haunting. I loved The Social Network and Zodiac, and this story looks right up Fincher's alley. Yeah, I wasn't too fond of the theatrical trailer, but it's refreshing to see how these actors will actually...act. The teaser was more memorable and more powerful, but I don't think the movie will stink because of the trailer. If anything, blame the marketers for offering too much. Sure, I read the book and know the story. I'm in it for the interpretation.
Loved the trailer. But damn if they didn't tell you everything except who the killer was. Not that it matters too much I guess with all the people that have either read the books or seen the originals, but still. Rooney Mara looks sensational. She's been in my best actress predictions since the teaser trailer came out. If she beats Meryl and Glenn, that'll be so funny and sad.
My thing with the accents is this. I get that they can't speak the native language (whatever they speak in Sweden), but in my head, it takes me out of it when I think, these Swedish people aren't normally speaking English in their native land with these wonky accents. Just like when countless films use the default British accent to signify Italians, Russians, French, etc. for dumb Americans. It really bothers me. It's so awful. Subtitles aren't that bad, people! But at least they have accents across the board it seems. That's better than nothing.
I think David Fincher and co. will have a winner on their hands with this one. This just shot up to one of my must-sees! It already was of course, since I loved the first book and Noomi Rapace in the Swedish films.
I actively dislike Fincher, and I'm looking forward to this movie. That's entirely due to the fact that the book devoured me for ten hours in my mad dash to finish it. I'm impressed with the feel of the trailer and the performers seem marvelous.
i really question the point of this movie.. everyone already saw the original. and that trailer felt like an hour long! this series is so overrated. cant stand it. but im in the minority for sure...
I love the cast and I love Fincher. OTOH, I merely liked the book and the first movie didn't improve on it. This is going to have to have MOVIE OF THE FUCKING YEAR reviews before I plunk down cash money.
Seeing this opening night! Loved the book. Rooney Mara looks Oscar-bound.
Huge yes to the trailer for me!
trailer looks fine but Mara's accent is really odd. It's not a Swedish accent (from any parts of Sweden). It sounded like she is going for something different altogether.
The reason the sweden film Men Who Hate Women works that well is because is a sweden history by a sweden author. with sweden cast. I don`t understand why Hollywood is remaking recent gems like this or Let the Right One In.
Fincher is a great filmmaker who must be working on original screenplays like Seven or first film adaptations like Fight Club, Zodiac, The Social Network.
Fincher has a raw talent and this seems to be a return to his favourite sort of movie; crime thrillers. There's something almost supernatural about his choice to make Mara the protagonist. It's almost as if her portrayal in The Social Network was on purpose; a mere taster for what is to come.