(2010) **** 1/2
Let Me In is an awesome remake. Though, I must admit, I was initially skeptical of its success for three reasons:
1) Americans know how to butcher good films.
2) I rarely see the point of remaking a film if it’s verbatim to the original (based on the trailer this seemed to be the case).
3) Lina Leandersson played the part of the vampire so flawlessly that she made herself irreplaceable.
It’s certainly true that that the remake holds pretty true to the original, right down to the cold, lonely, snowy atmosphere we all love; however, where the film becomes it’s own and what ultimately saves it, is shifting the focus more on the boy, who was excellently cast. This was an unbelievably smart move because, as I mentioned, Lina Leandersson is irreplaceable. In Let the Right One In, the girl stole the show for me. It was her story. I felt her plight, and I could see her pain and loneliness saturated in her eyes. The boy took a backseat to her story. It’s the complete opposite in Let Me In, even right down to his eyes, which intensely pull at your heartstrings.
Although this film was pretty fabulous, I couldn’t give it five stars, which is what I gave the original, because, as Landshark also mentioned, there are some crappy CGI effects (though only a couple and they barely take away from the film), and there’s just something indescribable that makes the first one a little better, I think it lies both somewhere in the tone and in Lina Leandersson’s performance.
However, I think it’s definitely worthy of **** ½ stars, and without a doubt a minimum of **** because it takes an awesome film, keeps it so close to the original, but yet still manages to create a different perspective. It also has one scene, not in the original, which is really awesome. It takes place in a car (Landshark, you know what I’m talking about). Oh, and I love that it is set in the eighties. I believe the original is too, but American eighties is different than Swedish eighties.
6 comments:
Great observations Whirlygirl! Sounds like this one joins the short list of foreign remakes that don't completely miss the boat. So now there's Let Me In, The Ring, The Strangers and... is that really it?
So glad to hear this doesn't suck.
Darn, you beat me to being the first one to review both. I just got the original, but need to wait till the Mrs. and I can find time to watch it together.
Great review. What a fun, well made movie.
You guys have convinced me that I need to check this out! It sounds like a quality remake that takes a slightly different angle. You had me at, "it's set in the 80s". Like House of the Devil and the silly Hot Tub Time Machine, I'm hoping that as time goes on more and more films are set in the 80s -the music alone sucks me righ in. Nice analysis, Whirly.
Excellent! Not to take anything away from Landshark's review, but I'm psyched to hear this from someone who has seen the original. I doubt we'll get to this in theaters, but I'll definitely put it on my list!
This is good news, and the decision to focus on the boy sounds like the master stroke they needed to make it actually work.
JSP, I can't think of any more. Funny Games? Am I even saying that right?
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