Posts Tagged ‘strong female character’

Short Take: Gets the atmosphere of the books, but not quite its most important aspect: its female lead.

Director: David Fincher

Screenwriters: Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Stieg Larsson (novel)

Cast: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Yorick van Wageningen

Length: 2 hours 38 minutes

Synopsis: Based on the international bestselling thriller of the same title, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tells the story of disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Mara) as they investigate a decades-old mystery. In the 1960s, Harriet Vanger disappeared from her family’s private island home in Hedestad, Sweden. Blomkvist agrees to investigate her disappearance after losing a libel case that destroys his credibility. Salander soon becomes his research assistant and as their personal connection intensifies, they are nearly added to to its list of victims.

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Short Take: Entertaining but sorely underdeveloped - It could have been considerably better

Director: Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who!)

Screenwriter: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Gamer, Crank: High Voltage)

Cast: Josh Brolin (Milk, No Country for Old Men), Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body, Transformers), John Malkovich (Burn After Reading, Changeling), Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank, 300)

Length: 1 hour 23 minutes

Synopsis: The film begins with former Confederate soldier Jonah Hex (Brolin) forced to watch his wife and son burn to death at the hands of former friend Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich).  Left for dead, Hex is found and revived by a group of Crow Indians, but he’s a changed man.  Not only does he literally bear a brand of Turnbull’s betrayal on his face, but his travels between death and life left him with some unique abilities.  Hex can seemingly survive any number of bullet wounds and revive the dead for short periods of time with a single touch.  Hex devotes his life to taking revenge on Turnbull and when the U.S. government asks for his help in stopping Turnbull from using a powerful weapon against innocent citizens during the nation’s centennial celebration, he must find him before time runs out. Read the rest of this entry »