By Jason Apuzzo. A new trailer is out for David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which opens December 21st. You can check out the trailer above; be advised that it’s on the adult/mature side.
This trailer overall is much less striking than the first one, and is obviously intended to introduce the main characters and also more elements of the plot. I like the mood and atmosphere of it – the aggressive cutting and ominous music work well – but unfortunately I think Fincher is giving us too much plot here and too many characters, because outside of the somewhat freakish Lisbeth Salander (who comes across here like a self-mortifying, medieval monk) everything else about this film looks quite conventional, as thrillers go. Were it not for Christopher Plummer’s presence, I doubt I’d even be interested in watching this film. Why? Because as is so often the case with Fincher’s films, I’m wondering whether this one is promising more originality than it will actually deliver. And as for Daniel Craig, he continues to be affectless and dull; it’s difficult to imagine watching him over the course of what is intended to be a trilogy.
In any case, I’m curious as to what people think – especially those of you who’ve have read the books or seen the Noomi Rapace films. Are you getting what you want here?
Posted on September 22nd, 2011 at 4:19pm.
I didn’t watch any of the original films or read the books – just wasn’t interested enough. I tend to like – like, not love – Fincher’s movies, though I am always bothered that he seems to be capable of making great movies yet manages to only make merely good ones.
Anyway, I’ll certainly listen if anyone has anything to say about why I should be interested enough to care about this series. I’m not against it, just totally indifferent.
As someone who’s never read the books… either of these trailers made me want to read the books. Or see the movie for that matter. This one had too many people and too much going on… I lost interest.
I like the trailer and I don’t think it revealed too much about the plot.There is nothing in the trailer that gives away much of anything surrounding the mystery of Harriet Vanger and they only hint at some of the crap Lisbeth has to deal with. I think it’s more coherent than the first trailer as far as giving one an idea of what the film is about.
When I saw the first trailer I hadn’t read the books or seen the Swedish films and, aside from liking frantic cuts and music, I had no idea what the movie was about and wasn’t sure if I’d waste money seeing it in a theater. Now that I’ve read the books and seen all three Swedish films I really want to see Fincher’s take on the story and this new trailer only enforced that feeling.
Jason- I am not a huge fan of Fincher’s work but I might check it out.. I recently started watching the original one on Netflix. I think it is great. I am really enjoying it.
I’ve read the books and seen two of the three Swedish movies (too bored to see the third). What I see here is definitely an improvement over the Swedish stuff; it seems flashier, more exciting, and possibly does a smarter job at telling the story. It could be too slavish to the book, hard to tell, but nothing could be more slavish than Swedish version, which carefully followed the tedious detail of the books blow by ponderous blow.
I’ve seen the Swedish movie versions (It’s a trilogy and all available on Netflix).
Frankly the story is fairly pedestrian and by the numbers. Any halfway decent writer could come up with it. (Believe it or not that’s an endorsement due to the lack of half way decent writers!) The thing that makes the Swedish versions so interesting to watch is Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. Noomi’s presence on screen is so stark in contrast (and yes I’m suppose that was the intent), to the other (boring/pedestrian/straight out of central casting) characters, that she carries the movie. She in my opinion makes at least the first movie in the trilogy definitely worth watching.
Thus, Rooney Mara has big shoes to fill and she’ll get “some help” from Christopher Plummer. The Swedish versions didn’t have anyone half way approaching his stature as an actor. However and unfortunately for Rooney a lot of her screen time will be spent with Daniel Craig. If this version emphasizes him too much it’s going to blow.
Fincher…can’t say he’s ever made a bad movie and also can’t say he’s ever made anything truly compelling or worth watching more than once. He’s better than most directors working today…which is some praise.
One last comment and slight spoiler about the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie. (I’ve not read the books). The very ending is lame and in my opinion a bit of a cheat. I don’t know if it can be changed or not.
Honestly, I hope this movie is good. I could use some serious entertainment.
My girlfriend is into the books, and I watched the films on Netflix with her. I didn’t think my time was wasted, but I don’t see myself revisiting them.
Based on Fincher’s trailers, I think Mara’s Lisbeth is reactive, where as Noomi seems to get out in front of her performance — it comes off as much more forceful.
I tend to enjoy Fincher’s films — even though I agree with what you say, Jason — so I’ll probably see this somewhere down the line.