Dragon Tattoo? Seen it already.

So there's been a lot of buzz about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. My opinion is "whatever". The reason for that is simple: I've already seen it. I saw it before it even hit theaters here.

I saw it back when it was called Män som hatar kvinnor.

Oh, but it's a different movie, you say.. a different take on the idea. My answer? I don't care. The story's the same, I already know how it ends.

It's fairly common that our initial impression of something comes to define our idea of it. In the case of this film, it's the actors and their performances. For me, Noomi Rapace is Lisbeth Salander. Michael Nyqvist is Mikael Blomkvist. Period, the end.

Hollywood has this habit of spending lots of money remaking so-called "foreign" films. Effectively doing little but re-recording the film with English dialogue, for the Michael Bay Generation that can't be bothered to do something as simple as read.

I use the phrase "so-called foreign films" to point out that there are almost no "domestic" films anymore. Almost all films are produced overseas, usually in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc, using non-American actors, financed by non-American companies, written and directed by non-American writers and producers. But they're not "foreign" films.. because they're in English. Record a film here in the States, 100% home-grown American, but do it in Spanish instead? Bam.. "foreign film". They really need to clarify this.. they're only called "foreign" because they're filmed in a language other than English.

So they think that we stupid Americans can't read, so they make the film in English. And then they totally bork (or börk?) up the casting. Granted, I don't really know Rooney Mara that well, having only seen her in Nightmare on Elm Street, where I would classify her performance as "okay" (considering the material). She's got her work cut out here, because Lisbeth is not an easy role by any means, and a role like this can make or break a career. To be fair, I have heard good things about her performance, but I'm not sure if they're making comparisons to Noomi Rapace, who, for many people (including me), cemented who Lisbeth is. But Daniel Craig? Sorry, but he would be one of the last people I would cast as Blomkvist. Michael Nyqvist might not be the American "pretty boy", but the man can act, and his performance as Blomkvist absolutely makes him into a real person that the audience can really believe. Daniel Craig is great if you put him in the right role, but this is not it.

I just fail to see the point of the whole "remake" thing. Män som hatar kvinnor (which, incidentally, does not translate as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") is barely three years old. Aside from the language "barrier", there's absolutely no reason to make the whole thing again. It's not like the originals were low-budget backyard productions.. they're extremely well made by any measure, and are all-around good films.

And most people here in the States are barely aware that they exist, and they'll probably never see them. They're on Netflix right now, all three of them. I wonder what the viewing numbers look like for them. Probably numbers that would make me sad.