Film Reviews WESTERN/THRILLER JONAH HEX (15) 81min ●●●●●
THRILLER THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (FLIKAN SOM LEKTE MED ELDEN) (15) 129min ●●●●●
Since the UK release of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last summer, it’s fair to say the cult surrounding the late Stieg Larsson’s Millennium books – of which Dragon Tattoo was the first in the trilogy – went over ground. Few films will ever stand up to such hype, including The Girl Who Played With Fire. Yet it’s a credit to the film that it evokes the same sense of menace and mystery as its predecessor. In particular, given Swedish director Daniel Alfredson (brother of Tomas, who directed the sublime 2008 vampire film Let The Right One In) was drafted in to replace previous helmer Niels Arden Oplev, a transition that appears nigh-on seamless.
The story picks up a year after Dragon Tattoo ended. Antisocial
researcher-cum-hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) has been travelling the world, while keeping an eye on her corrupt guardian, Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), who she previously entrapped with video evidence when he raped her. Meanwhile, Millennium magazine’s investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is about to blow open a story about human trafficking. Invariably, their lives intertwine when Bjurman turns up dead. Accused of
murder, Salander goes on the run while Blomkvist sets out to prove her innocence. For some, that Larsson’s plot keeps them apart for much of the film may be a disappointment, particularly given the chemistry that Rapace and Nyqvist had in Dragon Tattoo. It doesn’t help either that the second book’s major revelation – that Salander torched her brutish father when she was 12 – was already referred to in the first film. Yet niggles aside, this instalment is still tremendously engrossing, even if
you’re left with a slight feeling that Alfredon’s film is arguably a set-up for the more dramatic events of the final episode The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (due in November). Once again boasting a remarkable central turn from Rapace, she leaves newcomer Rooney Mara, cast as Salander in the forthcoming Hollywood remake, with much to live up to. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 27 Aug.
Clint Eastwood’s iconic Man With No Name is the inspiration for Jonah Hex, a vengeful cowboy in director Jimmy Hayward’s adaptation of the popular DC Comics character. Scarred and angry, Hex wanders the post civil war landscape searching for Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), who murdered Hex’s family and left him for dead. The ruthless Turnbull is also sought by US military operatives who suspect him of developing an ‘ultimate weapon’ in the vague form of some magic orange balls. When Turnbull seeks the upper hand on his pursuers by kidnapping Hex’s squeeze, saloon-girl Lilah (Megan Fox), the grizzled Hex unleashes his own personal brand of revenge on all concerned.
When a major studio film comes in at one hour and twenty-one minutes long, and features decent players like Wes Bentley, Michael Fassbender and Will Arnett in blink-and-you’ll-miss them roles, it’s clear that something went wrong with Hayward’s graduation from Pixar’s animation department to his first live-action gig. Incoherently assembled from badly lit scenes, Jonah Hex is barely watchable, with only Brolin offering any conviction. The early sight of Hex’s horse ridiculously kitted out with Gatling guns sets the bar high in terms of stupidity; Jonah Hex is pure cinematic hell. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 3 Sep.
HORROR THE LAST EXORCISM (15) 87min ●●●●●
ALSO RELEASED The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) (PG) 187min ●●●●● Digitally restored re-issue of Luchino Visconti’s masterful epic familial drama. Selected release from Fri 27 Aug. The Switch (12A) 101min ●●●●● Forgettable and schematic but enjoyable fertility rom-com starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman and a turkey baster. General release from Wed 1 Sep. Cherry Tree Lane (18) 77min ●●●●● Real-time home-invasion horror. See feature, page 84. Selected release from Fri 3 Sep. Bonded By Blood (15) 100min ●●●●● Second attempt (see 2000’s Essex Boys) to dramatise the events that led up to the murders of drug dealers in 1995 in Rettendon in Essex. Decent, solid and unsurprising Brit crime flick. Selected release from Fri 3 Sep. Splintered (18) 85min ●●●●● Dodgy resurrected 2008 creature feature horror filmed largely in Delamere Forest in Cheshire. Selected release from Fri 3 Sep. Why Did I Get Married Too? (12A) 121min ●●●●● Thought- provoking if occasionally lame sequel to actor and director and one man film industry Tyler Perry’s 2007 drama Why Did I Get Married? It’s a similar formula where close couples bond, divide and regroup in the face of a less smug world. Very decent performances from Janet Jackson, Perry and Jill Scott, though. Selected release from Fri 3 Sep. No Impact Man (15) 93min ●●●●● Compelling if mildly conceited documentary about a middle class Manhattan couple who spend a year massively reducing their carbon footprint by going without toilet paper, TV, coffee, a refrigerator and much more. This is a Take One Action presentation and a Q&A will follow the first screening. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 3–Mon 6 Sep. Black Dynamite (15) 84min ●●●●● Gutsy and enjoyably silly spoof of 1970s blaxploitation films like Shaft and Superfly. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 3–Thu 9 Sep.
From 1999’s The Blair Witch Project to last year’s phenomenon Paranormal Activity, the faux-documentary has become a frequent staple of the horror genre in the last decade. Produced by Hostel’s Eli Roth, Daniel Stamm’s effort is the latest to utilise the format, if only as a sly way of distancing itself from The Exorcist, the daddy of all exorcism movies. In this case, the mock-doc centres on Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a dubious Louisiana-based preacher who is not above faking exorcisms for his gullible flock. Determined to prove that demonic possession is a load of bull, Marcus takes a film crew with him to a local backwater, to follow up a cry for help from a farmer (Louis Herthum) who believes his daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) is under the influence. Offering a neat spin on most exorcism movies, as it questions the validity of such beliefs, Stamm’s film is bolstered by two gripping turns from Fabian and Bell. But, whether it’s the nausea-inducing camerawork, the lack of genuine scares or the all-too-abrupt ending, the end result will leave you distinctly underwhelmed. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 3 Sep.
86 THE LIST 26 Aug–9 Sep 2010