David Fincher's "History Detectives"

So much to watch, so little time. If I was still a frequent customer of Scarecrow Video I might be compelled to watch the original trilogy on DVD, if I had a player that could handle all six DVD regions. Are Blu-Rays like that? Anyway, the point being, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's probably not something you should watch with your parents. There was a little buyer's remorse at first, but we pushed ahead anyway because of the articles... I mean, the story. And for those of you who thought David Fincher was getting soft with all these PG-13 pictures he's been doing lately, well, enjoy this diversion while it lasts because he's getting into TV now! One last fling in the vein of Fight Club and Seven before settling down to a nice comfortable syndication gig.
And of course, in comparing this thing to other things, seeing as how it's a Columbia/MGM/Daniel Craig-based enterprise, I couldn't help but slightly think of it as Bond 22.5. The opening credits sure seem to think so! The oil-soaked girl from Quantum of Solace gets her own tribute, and it's a portent of the ickiness to come.
Well, I hate to always say it, but what the hell, because when you get right down to it, aren't all relationships like the one that blossoms between Mikael Blomquis... Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salamande... Salander? I think so. You know, he's sharp but a bit of a doofus, she's got a photographic memory and is insane... because she CHOOSES to be. We'll get to gender equality yet! Fincher and his crew's here to remind us that we've got a lot of fetishes to get out of our system first before that happens. Speaking of which, I know I'm turning into an old-timer because I remember a time when people thought that Malkovich's turn in In the Line of Fire could be dangerous to him personally... I guess like how Val Kilmer is now, something like that. What does that say about Stellan Skarsgard? Oh, dude... oh, sorry, SPOILER ALERT.
Well, nothing else comes to mind at this moment, so back to Fincher. I don't know what he was doing between 2002 and 2006, but it obviously worked. I haven't seen his 2007 Zodiac, but I can only assume part of it is here. The slo-mo car crash from Fight Club, the gruesome crime scenes of Seven, parts of the ethos of Fight Club, it's all here. It also looks a bit like smeary digital video, but I'm getting used to it. Adapt or die, right? The motto we all live by these days; Mamet couldn't have said it better. But every once in a while you just gotta dress up like Lady Gaga and pull that big multi-billion dollar heist. I mean, that's just natural selection at work. Just because you steal it doesn't mean it can't be stolen from you just as quickly... easy come, easy go? Sigh. Everything's reducible. Besides, they left the sequel door open...

***1/2
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan