Another good movie inspired by Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy" featuring bad girl hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and journalist/detective, Mikael Bloomkvist (Michael Nyqvist). If you liked the first in the series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, then you'll certainly want to watch/read this one as well. Like the initial installment in this trilogy, this one is also full of good intrigue and is an honest to goodness mystery crime thriller movie. This movie isn't quite as brutal as the last one, which is probably a good thing -- I've never been comfortable with rape scenes in a movie (no less a half dozen in the span of two hours - geesh...), but it does still have plenty of intrigue and fast paced action.
Unlike the first installment, this one seems to depend a little more on cold war-esq spy action, which was a break from the gumshoe nature of the first one. I'm anxious to see where the third one goes since the series has covered these other two genres fairly well. (The third one, which has already been filmed, is called The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest).
Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first one, but it was still a great movie. As much as I don't like 'reading' movies, I have to admit that some great films can come out of studios that don't have Hollywood executives screwing them up. I can think of a half dozen movies that had the potential to do as well as this one that were obviously compromised to death. Anyway, point is, this is a pretty good movie and recommended for mystery fans.
Movie to Skip: Red Lips 2 - Bloodlust
The most surprising thing about this film is that it is apparently a sequel. I mean, they made two of these things?! That seems like quite a waste of film... It wasn't much of a waste of money, because they clearly didn't spend any on the production of this little stinker, but it was definitely a waste of film... and time. I think it is supposed to be a softcore erotic thriller, but there really isn't anything "erotic" about it (and nothing even approaching thrilling). There is some porn music played, loudly, while we see closeups of two naked people pretending to pretend to be having sex... typically at arms length, but that is about as erotic as things get... and it's a pretty pathetic display. It's naked, but it isn't sexy. At best, this is hardcore Amish porn... Ghost in a Teeny Bikini, now there is a real softcore movie. At least the simulated... um, action, is at least moderately believable ...and yet also terribly funny. In fact, if you're looking for eroticism, Teeny Bikini is a FAR superior movie than this one.
That having been said, I hate to admit it, but there are actually some decent one liners in this film. My favorite sequence:
"I don't know, becoming a vampire isn't so bad. A little blood loss for immortality and infinite power. That doesn't sound like such a bad deal."
"What does your therapist say about that?"
"I don't know, he won't return my calls."
Ok, it isn't Shakespeare, but in the context of this film, it was actually kind of funny. (Bad movies are often spruced up by tired old jokes.) As a side note, there is a strange preoccupation with therapy and psychologists during this conversation... which is oddly personal considering it is happening between two complete strangers sitting at a bar.
Anyway, the acting, overall... well, actually, I've seen much worse. It isn't good. But compared to a LOT of other crappy movies, this one had some actors that were almost mediocre. One of the chief problems in this movie, besides the pathetic less-than-steamy erotic scenes, is that the storyline is really hard to follow... mostly because I think it's supposed to be a series of dream sequences being told by the vampire loving stranger we meet at the beginning of the film. At least, I think they're dream sequences. Or, at least, she's telling the other person sitting at the bar they are dream sequences... although we're actually supposed to believe that they really happened. Either way, don't really understand how they all fit together. The slow and uneventful "chase" sequence about halfway through the movie in particular is really pointless and kind of stupid. Ok, so the entire movie is pointless and kind of stupid, but at least I was trying to figure out why we were shown the sequences.
One of the MOST confusing things I've seen a while is that we actually get a film within a film in a stupid B-movie! Our inner film is a strange movie where see a woman walking around, and is then followed by another woman for a while, they talk, and then one leaves... while the other apparently dies... by Alka-Seltzer poisoning. All of it happening while Verdi's Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves is going on underneath it. Let us look at that song for a moment for a clue as to what was going on...
| Italian | English |
| Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate; va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli ove olezzano tepide e molli l'aure dolci del suolo natal! Del Giordano le rive saluta, di Sionne le torri atterrate. Oh, mia patria sì bella e perduta! Oh, membranza sì cara e fatal! Arpa d'or dei fatidici vati, perché muta dal salice pendi? Le memorie nel petto raccendi, ci favella del tempo che fu! O simile di Solima ai fati traggi un suono di crudo lamento, o t'ispiri il Signore un concento che ne infonda al patire virtù! |
Fly, thought, on wings of gold, go settle upon the slopes and the hills where the sweet airs of our native soil smell soft and mild! Greet the banks of the river Jordan and Zion's tumbled towers. Oh, my country, so lovely and lost! Oh remembrance so dear yet unhappy! Golden harp of the prophetic wise men, why hang so silently from the willows? Rekindle the memories in our hearts, tell us about the times gone by! Remembering the fate of Jerusalem play us a sad lament or else be inspired by the Lord to fortify us to endure our suffering! |
Nope, I still don't get it... And you know what's even crazier than this? The production value of the film within the film is actually FAR superior to the exterior movie. How weird is that?! This whole movie is just... bizarre. It's not good, but I was unable to tear my eyes away from this train wreck. For the good of your soul, I urge you to skip this movie. Trust me, because if you don't turn it off quickly enough, you're probably going to end up watching the entire thing, and you'll feel really dumb for being caught in it's ridiculously feeble clutches.
Oh, and before I forget, I do have a little public service message to go along with this movie: If you and another person walk up to a mirror, and you don't see the other person's reflection, turn around. Don't stand there like an idiot looking at the mirror asking the invisible person why you can't see them. You're about to be vampire food. That is all. Now, go forth, and don't watch this movie. No seriously, it will only encourage them. Don't watch it.
