TheRetroCritic

The original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a film I expected a lot from. Overhyped upon its release, it was really being pushed as THE next must-see thriller series. Bourne was done, Bond and Ethan Hunt were on their gap years: this was the sexy European fix we needed. What we got was a cross between a TV movie-style investigation, a classic whodunit and a sexy, modern, kickass thriller. It hardly blew me away but it worked and although I was no fan I acknowledged it was well made and was a good example of the genre. Now David Fincher is in as director for the remake and the likes of Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard make up the cool US cast. The result? It's the same. Well, more or less the same. You've got a swanky Placebo-style music video to get you started as a kind of dark, modern, gooey Bond opening title sequence complete with fire, Led Zepellin AND hornets. Not sure how useful that really was but I enjoyed it: it was

I remember loving Fantomas as a kid (I'm French): as a premise for a film franchise, it was simply perfect. You've got a criminal mastermind known only as Fantomas who goes around stealing jewels, diamonds, the usual while wearing a multitude of silly disguises and Mission Impossible -style masks and making a fool out of Louis De Funes' grumpy cop.Think The Pink Panther meets the Mission Impossible TV series meets a French De Funes farce. It's so crazy that it works beautifully. The genius of it is that you're not really rooting for the bad guy to get caught at all, you want to see him get away especially when his getaway plans are always so out there. His main motivation seems to be a mix of kleptomania and sadism: he is one charming evil bastard. Fantomas is played by iconic French actor Jean Marais, mostly known for Orphee and other Jean Cocteau classics, and he gets to show-off in some imrpessive stunts, wear silly moustaches and that famous Fantomas f