DVD OF THE WEEK

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO *****
Dir: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Naomi Rapace, Peter Haber

The first book of the publishing sensation that swept the world, the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson, has now hit DVD. Unusually it arrives in New Zealand before anywhere else, presumably reflecting the success it had here at cinemas. Thus this release is a bit of a quickie, not even containing the 5.1 sound that is promised in the cover.
But fear not. The film itself is brilliant. If you like a good mystery thriller this ticks all the boxes: a tough complex story well told, an interesting relationship, and – in the film's heroine – a new and intriguing central character.
Michael Nyqvist (As It Is In Heaven) is disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist awaiting a jail term and hired to investigate the 40 year old disappearance of an aging millionaire's favourite niece. The researcher who checked him out for the millionaire is Lisbeth Salander, a unique cinematic creation with serious relationship issues and a strange and violent past. The film doesn't shy away from the more brutal elements of her story (which is explored more fully in the second book, already filmed). Together they try and solve the mystery.
To say more would give away too much. Suffice to confirm that this is a masterful adaptation of the book and a long involving story that will keep most guessing. The ending is also handled economically and satisfyingly. The original Swedish book was called 'Men Who Hate Women”. It was an apt title and it is pleasing to see the – at least two – people who fall into that category here getting their just desserts.

Just about everyone in the world has by now seen Avatar (***), so a review seems redundant. Here are a few observations. The film still looks fantastic in 2D, with an astonishing display of CGI detail. It looks like a cartoon of course, exhibiting that obviously weightless CGI feel, but I guess that's par for the course these days. The Na'vi and the whole noble savage story is intensely irritating and crammed with clichés. And how big was the pay-off from the tobacco industry to make Sigourney Weaver's first action to be to ask for a cigarette? Even assuming they exist in such a distant future, surely the six years spent in cyber-sleep getting to Pandora would allow any smoker to quit.

Paranormal Activity (****), like the Blair Witch Project before it, has divided viewers. Told through the lens of a single handicam it follows one young couple through the 'haunting” of their house while purporting to be a true story, but, really, there is no more connection to the BWP than there is to Cloverfield, another 'shot with a handheld cam” outing. I thought it good and very creepy, and given the low-budget look it transfers extremely well to home viewing. If you buy into the premise you too will find yourself scanning the screen during the spooky night shots, looking edgily for any trace of movement.

Musician-turned-director Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween did good business but was ultimately an unimaginative hack job. Halloween 2 (***) looks initially like more of the same, starting minutes after the previous film with perpetual victim Laurie Strode hospitalised and superhuman killer Michael Myers returning to life and continuing his bloody rampage. But then, 25 minutes in, the film takes a complete left turn and becomes something surprisingly original. Not necessarily better, but certainly different. Zombie piles on the gore and graphic violence and this at least takes the seemingly endless franchise in a new direction.

Planet 51 (**) was the other animated feature that came out at the same time as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Unlike that superb film this is predictable, a little tedious, and very gung-ho American. Probably good for smaller kids but others might want to give it a miss.