It's hard to believe a movie with Michael Fassbender would make me feel this frustrated. It's possible that he was as lost as most of us in the audience. Events happened with barely any relationships between them. Characters hardly tolerated being in the same scene with each other. I couldn't follow much of the story line, and I read the book. This should have been called something else or come in with a warning that said "barely inspired by..."
A serial killer is attacking a series of women and leave several clues to Harry Hole (Fassbender). He's clearly toying with him, and had it been another film we probably would have been either rooting for Fassbender or fearing for the lives of his close relatives. There's plenty of darkness, "mood", beautiful scenery, and potentially interesting characters, but the three responsible people for the screenplay must have been working in separate time zones or geographical locations without being able to contact each other.
1) Character commits suicide. 2) Character loses a body part. 3) Characters wander around in the snow or dimly lit interiors. 4) Character can't understand the other because he/she doesn't make sense. 5) Suspense is hardly present.
If the problem had been the incoherence that permeates most of the film, one would have been frustrated but some of the story changes and character substitutions don't make any sense. "Gone With The Wind" managed to be condensed into four hours, without losing its main points. What happened here?
This film begs remake because there was something interesting and exciting, dark, and dangerous in its original concept, and it is a pity what happened to it.
* out of ****
(for its beautiful cinematography).
A serial killer is attacking a series of women and leave several clues to Harry Hole (Fassbender). He's clearly toying with him, and had it been another film we probably would have been either rooting for Fassbender or fearing for the lives of his close relatives. There's plenty of darkness, "mood", beautiful scenery, and potentially interesting characters, but the three responsible people for the screenplay must have been working in separate time zones or geographical locations without being able to contact each other.
1) Character commits suicide. 2) Character loses a body part. 3) Characters wander around in the snow or dimly lit interiors. 4) Character can't understand the other because he/she doesn't make sense. 5) Suspense is hardly present.
If the problem had been the incoherence that permeates most of the film, one would have been frustrated but some of the story changes and character substitutions don't make any sense. "Gone With The Wind" managed to be condensed into four hours, without losing its main points. What happened here?
This film begs remake because there was something interesting and exciting, dark, and dangerous in its original concept, and it is a pity what happened to it.
* out of ****
(for its beautiful cinematography).