Gallants 打擂台 2010

Released Year: 2010

Directed by 郭子健 Derek Kwok & 鄭思傑 Clement Cheng

Casted by:

黃又南 Wong You Nam as 梁景祥 Xiang

梁小龍 Leung Siu Long as 林良淳 Chun

陳觀泰 Chen Kuan Tai as 陈德成 Cheng

泰迪羅賓 Teddy Robin as 羅新 Xin
邵音音 Susan Siu as 芬姐 Fen

賈曉晨 Jia Xiao Chen as 桂 Gui

歐陽靖 MC Jin as 叢生猛 Meng
陳惠敏 Michael Chan as 龐青 Qing

Story:

Xiang is a real estate handler who got a job to took over one land in a village. He met bully in the village but was saved by Chun. Later on he found out Chun and Cheng is the apprentice of Xin who is in coma. Qing & Meng in another hand who is the boss of Xiang who force them to surrender. But Master Xin suddenly woke up and shoo them away.

Xiang was mistaken as Xin's apprentice and he accepted the challenge from Meng to fight on stage. Chun, Cheng train Xiang to his very best and though they do not win in the end, but Qing decided to let them off as he understood the meaning of martial arts.

   L² Scored: 4.5/10

L² Comment:

This movie is kinda different from other HK movie, though it has positive review, but for me, this is only so so. The only thing i love about this movie is the way they put on the main Movie's poster. The rest is just ordinary, nothing surprising. I thought all those old HK's action movie should have created some sparks in the movie, but they didn't.

Contagion

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Casted by: 

Matt Damon as Mitch Emhoff

Marion Cotillard as Dr. Leonora Orantes
Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Ellis Cheever
Kate Winslet as Dr. Erin Mears

Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede
Gwyneth Paltrow as Elizabeth "Beth" Emhoff

 Story:

 The film follows several interacting plotlines, with no single protagonist nor antagonist, over the course of several weeks from the initial outbreak and attempts to contain it, to panic and decay of social order, and, finally, to the introduction of a vaccine. It is revealed in the end of the movie how the virus began.

After a business trip to Hong Kong, businesswoman Beth Emhoff stops in Chicago for a dalliance with an old boyfriend before returning to her husband and family in suburban Minneapolis. At first she appears to have contracted a cold during her trip. Her son, Clark, also becomes symptomatic and is sent home from school. Beth's condition worsens and two days later she collapses with severe seizures in her home. Beth's husband, Mitch, rushes her to the hospital, but she continues to seize and dies of an unknown virus. Because it affects the brain and central nervous system, pathologists attribute it to a meningoencephalitis virus. Mitch returns home and finds that Clark has also died from a similar infection. Mitch is put in isolation but turns out to be genetically immune to the disease. He and his daughter attempt to flee the city, but a military quarantine has been imposed, and they are forced to return to their home to face decaying social order and rampant looting of stores and homes. Not knowing whether his daughter inherited his immunity, Mitch struggles to balance his teenage daughter's frustration with quarantine with his desire to protect her, while trying to come to terms with his own loss.

In Atlanta, representatives from the Department of Homeland Security meet with Dr. Ellis Cheever of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and express fears that the disease is a bioweapon intended to cause terror over the Thanksgiving weekend. Cheever sends Dr. Erin Mears, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer, to Minneapolis to begin the investigation. In addition to tracing the outbreak back to Beth, Dr. Mears has to negotiate with local bureaucrats reluctant to commit resources. She later becomes infected with the disease after being in contact with contaminated fomites while staying at her hotel. The Minnesota National Guard arrives to quarantine the city, and a badly deteriorating Dr. Mears is moved to the field medical station she helped set up, where she later dies.

Investigations into cures via treatment protocols or vaccines initially prove fruitless as scientists cannot find a culture to grow the new virus, which has been named the Meningoencephalitis Virus One (MEV-1). Professor Ian Sussman violates orders from a CDC scientist, Dr. Ally Hextall, to destroy his samples and identifies a line of bat cells that will support research of a vaccine. At the CDC, Dr. Hextall uses this breakthrough to begin to characterize the properties of the virus, which turns out to have a mix of genetic material from bat, pig and human viruses and appears to spread via fomites with a basic reproduction number of two. This later goes up to four after the virus mutates.

A conspiratorially minded freelance internet blogger, Alan Krumwiede, posts videos about the disease, and in one of them appears sick and later claims that he recovered using a homeopathic cure called forsythia. Panicked people attempting to obtain forsythia overwhelm pharmacies, accelerating the contagion as infected and healthy people congregate. Krumwiede leaps to national attention and, during a television interview, accuses Dr. Cheever of informing friends and family to leave Chicago before a quarantine is imposed. It is later revealed Krumwiede was never sick with the virus, but was attempting to boost demand on behalf of investors in the companies producing and distributing the homeopathic treatment. He is arrested for conspiracy and fraud, but is soon released after his 12 million blog readers collect and pay his bail.

Dr. Hextall identifies a potential vaccine, using an attenuated (live) virus. Because of the difficulties of human subjects testing, she follows the precedent of other vaccine researchers and inoculates herself first. Hextall visits her gravely ill father in the hospital to expose herself to the virus and test the vaccine. Production of the vaccine is rapidly ramped up and the CDC awards vaccinations via a random lottery based on birth dates for one full year until every survivor is vaccinated. Dr. Cheever, feeling guilty for his past actions to protect those who are close to him, gives his fast-tracked MEV-1 vaccination to the son of a janitor he works with at the disease center. Dr. Hextall places the surviving samples of the MEV-1 virus in cryogenic storage with H1N1 and SARS.

Dr. Leonora Orantes, a World Health Organization epidemiologist, travels to Hong Kong to trace the origins of the infections. She collaborates with Sun Feng and other local Chinese epidemiologists and public health officials and they identify Emhoff as patient zero. As the virus spreads, Feng kidnaps Orantes to use her as leverage to obtain the first MEV-1 vaccines for his village. Orantes spends months living in rural China with the villagers until the vaccine is announced. Feng exchanges Orantes for the vaccines, which turn out to be placebos. Orantes rushes away when she is informed of this, presumably to warn the village.

The film concludes by tracing the origin of the virus from a bat nesting in a tree being cleared by Emhoff's mining corporation. The bat flies to a nearby pig sty and drops a banana where it is eaten by the pig, presumably transferring the bat virus into the pig. The pig is sold to and butchered by a chef in a Macau casino, who greets Beth Emhoff without washing his hands of the pig's blood, transferring the bat-pig hybrid to her and creating the MEV-1 human strain.

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

Oh fuck, this is an extremely good film. I love all those big casts and the storyline, there's almost flawless in this film~ excellent work and excellent cast :)

The Woman in Black

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by James Watkins

Casted by:

Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps

Ciarán Hinds as Sam Daily

Janet McTeer as Elizabeth Daily

Sophie Stuckey as Stella Kipps

Misha Handley as Joseph Kipps

Liz White as Jennet Humfrye

 Story:

 The film opens with three small girls having a tea party in an upstairs room in the Eel Marsh House. As they play, one of them looks up, the other two doing the same. The three girls, in a kind of trance, destroy their toys and move to the bay window. Each of them simultaneously open one window and jump to their death's. A woman screams over her child's death, and the screen pans out, revealing a portion of a woman in a black gown.

In the Edwardian era, young solicitor Arthur Kipps lives with his four-year-old son, Joseph and his son's nanny. Kipps's wife Stella has died after childbirth. Kipps keeps having visions of her and is facing financial problems along with stress from the law firm for which he works. He is assigned to handle the estate of Alice Drablow, who owned an English manor known as the Eel Marsh House, where she had lived with her husband, son Nathaniel, and sister Jennet Humfrye. Although the locals are unwelcoming, Kipps befriends Sam Daily, a wealthy landowner, and his wife Elizabeth.

At Eel Marsh House, located on an island in the marshes, Kipps repeatedly hears footsteps coming from upstairs in the house while he is going though paperwork downstairs. He then goes upstairs to a bedroom where he sees a baby crow that has fallen out of a nest located in a worn down fireplace. After putting it away, the crow's mother swoops past loudly - this being the first jump in the film. As he goes to the window and opens it, he sees the Woman in Black standing in the distance and then vanishing. He reports the sighting at the local police station but, while there, two boys bring their sister Victoria, who has drank lye. She dies in Kipps's arms. Victoria is not the first child in town to commit suicide, and the townspeople believe the "Woman in Black" comes for their children as revenge for her own child being taken from her, and believe that when someone sees her, a child nearby the person who saw her, is killed, which could be why children have been dying since Kipps' arrival at Eel Marsh House as Kipps saw her there.

Kipps and Sam arrive at the house of Jerome, the local solicitor. The house is empty, and they hear a noise from the cellar. Kipps peers through a hole in the cellar door and is startled when the face of a young girl, Lucy Jerome suddenly appears and screams at him to go away, believing he was responsible for Victoria's death. After returning to Sam's house for dinner, Kipps discovers that Sam and Elizabeth's son, Nicholas, drowned while playing at the beach and that Nicholas communicates through possession; Elizabeth, in a possessed state, then draws a hanging woman who Kipps realizes is Jennet. Later at the Marsh, Kipps discovers notes claiming that Jennet was mentally unstable and was not allowed to care for Nathaniel, who was actually Jennet's son, although this fact was hidden by Alice, Jennet's sister, who raised Nathaniel as her own son. He also finds out that Jennet hung herself due to Nathaniel's death, long ago.

The villagers desperately want Kipps to leave, but he refuses, wanting to protect his job. Throughout the night at the Marsh, Kipps has many paranormal experiences with the Woman in Black and all the children that committed suicide, as they all appear outside the house in the state they were in when they died. The next morning, Sam and Kipps return to town to see the local solicitor, but Jerome's house is on fire. Kipps rushes inside to rescue Lucy, Jerome's daughter, who has been locked in the cellar. There, he sees the Woman manipulate the girl into setting herself on fire. Lucy smashes a lantern at her feet, getting engulfed in flames. Kipps visits Mrs. Daily, who reveals in a trance that Joseph is the next victim. Kipps realizes that he must put Nathaniel to rest by giving him a proper burial. Kipps and Sam go to the Marsh. Kipps dives into the marsh and finds Nathaniel's body. They then take his body and lay him out in the nursery in the house, expecting the woman to appear and reunite with her lost son. The Woman appears and knocks Kipps to the floor and disappears. Then, Sam and Kipps finally lay Nathaniel to rest by burying him with his real mother, Jennet. After Kipps and Sam leave, the camera moves quickly through the hallway of the Marsh House, and the voice of the Woman in Black can be heard saying "I'll never forgive!... I'll never forgive!..."

Kipps is reunited with his son, Joseph, who is with his nanny, exiting their train at the railway station and plans to leave immediately. While the nanny is occupied with getting tickets to the train to London and Kipps is bidding Sam goodbye, Kipps turns to Joseph, walking along the tracks towards a fast approaching train. Sam and Kipps notice the Woman along the platform as Kipps jumps onto the tracks to save Joseph. As the train passes, Sam looks through the windows to see the unrested souls of all the children whom the Woman has claimed.

Still standing on the tracks with Joseph, Kipps looks up to see the now deserted platform. Joseph asks, "Daddy, who is that lady?" to which Kipps replies with a smile, "That's your Mummy." Realizing he and his son have died, he kisses his son and walks to his wife behind them, carrying Joseph and takes her hand. The three of them, reunited in death, 'go on' together, leaving the Woman in Black, in her grief, forever after.

   L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

This is quite a good film based on a novel. The whole story is kinda scary and the pace is just nice. Its a big challenge for Daniel Radcliffe to act as a father, but a 22yo boy can't convince me at all!!!

Drive Angry

Released Year: 2011

Directed by Patrick Lussier

Casted by:

Nicolas Cage as John Milton
Amber Heard as Piper
William Fichtner as The Accountant
Billy Burke as Jonah King

 Story:

 In Colorado, John Milton interrogates the only survivor of a car wreck he caused, seeking Jonah King, the leader of a Satanic cult who murdered Milton's daughter and took her baby. In three days, King and his followers will sacrifice the child at midnight. After the man tells him where Jonah King is, Milton sets off for Louisiana to find his grandchild. He is then being followed by a strange man in a suit who identifies himself as "The Accountant".

At a diner in Oklahoma, Milton meets a waitress, Piper, who gives him a ride. After dropping Milton off, she goes to her fiance Frank's house to discover Frank is having sex with another woman. Piper viciously fights the other woman, and gets into an argument with Frank, who then decides to pulverize Piper. Milton rescues Piper, knocking Frank out, and they leave in her car. Later, The Accountant comes to Frank's house, still looking for Milton. Angry, Frank attacks the Accountant, who kills Frank with a broken baseball bat. Police arrive, and the Accountant presents an FBI badge, telling them to help him find Milton, who is supposedly an escaped convict.

Milton and Piper then stay for the night at a roadside bar/motel. Piper later spots Jonah King, who orders his men to find and kill Milton. In the motel, Milton is having sex with a waitress, and without stopping is able to kill most of Hill's men; Piper kills the final one. The Accountant and the police arrive to find Milton. Both officers get killed, and Piper and Milton escape. The Accountant pursues them, but is shot by Milton with a 5-barreled shotgun. This in turn causes The Accountant to lose control of the car and then crash. Despite not wanting anything to do with the situation, Piper agrees to help Milton to find his grandchild.

Further up the road, Milton and Piper come to a church where Jonah is inside with Milton's infant granddaughter. During the struggle, Milton is shot in the eye and left for dead. Jonah leaves with Piper in a RV. Soon after, Milton gets up, killing almost everyone in the church, and catches up with Jonah. He manages in rescuing Piper, but Jonah escapes with the child. Back at the church, The Accountant finds someone who is still alive and he tells the Accountant that they shot Milton but he survived. He tells the Accountant that they have supposedly made a pact with Satan and that sacrificing the child will bring hell on earth. The Accountant is, however, amusedly skeptical of this.

Nearing their destination and needing a new car, Milton stops at the farm of an old acquaintance, who is shocked to see Milton alive. Piper angrily demands an explanation for how Milton could've possibly survived being shot in the skull. He says that Milton was a career criminal, but was killed over 20 years ago. Milton explains that he was condemned to Hell, where the damned are punished by being forced to watch their loved ones suffer in real life. Claiming that his daughter was "the only good thing he ever did in his life", seeing King abuse and murder her enraged him to the point he was able to escape his bonds. The bizarre looking gun that he carries with him is called the "Godkiller", which he stole from the Devil himself, and has the ability to not just kill a person, but to erase their very soul from existence.

Just before storming the prison, the Accountant is finally able to catch up with Milton and Piper. The Accountant assures them that King and his followers have made no such pact with Lucifer (in fact, cults that kill in his name are apparently one of his greatest annoyances). He agrees to let Milton complete his objective, but is still going to return him to Hell when it's all over.

Minutes before midnight, Milton literally crashes the gathering, and he and Piper kill nearly all of King's followers. Just before he can kill the child, Piper is able to recover the Godkiller from the Accountant who tells her to hurry if she intends to help Milton. When she gets to the fight between Milton and the cult she tries to shoot King, misses and is blown back by the Godkiller's kick. King, while boasting of his power, then beats Milton while he is crawling to the gun which had landed next to the altar and out of King's view. Just when King is about to deliver the final blow the Accountant briefly distracts him allowing Milton time to pull out the Godkiller and shoot him at near point-blank range vaporizing King's body and soul.

With his mission completed, Milton asks Piper to watch after his granddaughter, which she agrees to. The Accountant arrives to bring him back to Hell. Milton graciously enters a car that the Accountant summons (only after demanding that he get to drive it) and cockily tells the Accountant that if he escaped Hell once, he can surely do it again. Almost hopefully, the Accountant says he doesn't doubt him. The film then ends with a portal opening, and Milton and the Accountant driving across a long fiery bridge back into Hell.

  L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Hmm, how should i rate this? If just based on my opinion, i love it and probably will score it even higher than 7/10. But the story is kinda confusing, beside the cult and sacrificing, i don't know whether cage is a human or devil in this film. And there's also a guy "Fichtner" who is a God? A protector of cage? OMG, i really don't know... But the action wise is good... except this, i found that Nicolas Cage is always stuck in this kind of film... a lil bit like "ghost rider"....

Fright Night 2011

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Casted by:

Anton Yelchin as Charley Brewster
Colin Farrell as Jerry Dandrige

Imogen Poots as Amy Peterson
David Tennant as Peter Vincent
Toni Collette as Jane Brewster
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as "Evil" Ed Lee

 Story:

 The film opens with a vampire systematically stalking and killing an entire family in a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada. The film then focuses on Charley Brewster, a teenager who discovers that a new neighbor has moved in next door to him. Charley is an average teen, who has recently been accepted as one of the 'cool' kids after a nerdy adolescence. Upon arriving at school, Charley's former friend, "Evil" Ed Lee, informs him that many fellow students have gone missing. Charley disregards this, but Ed blackmails him into coming to an old friend's house, the same house seen at the beginning, to check if he is alright.

When Charley goes home after school, his mother introduces him to Jerry Dandrige, their new neighbor. Charley eventually remembers to meet up with Ed, who informs him that Jerry is a vampire. Charley becomes fed up with Ed and leaves. On his way home, Ed is harassed by a bully. He manages to escape but is confronted by Jerry, who bites him. The next day, Charley realizes that Ed is missing and decides to investigate.

As Jerry begins to attack more people throughout the neighborhood, Charley sneaks into Jerry's house and finds out that he keeps his victims in secret rooms. Charley manages to free one of his victims, but she burns the moment she steps into the sunlight during their escape. Charley goes to Vegas magician Peter Vincent, a supposed expert on vampires. Unfortunately, Peter doesn't take him seriously, and kicks him out, leaving an angry Charley to deal with Jerry on his own.

Jerry comes to Charley's house the next night and complains to his mother, but Charley convinces her not to let him in. Reasoning that if there's no house, he does not need an invitation to enter in order to claim his victims, Jerry ignites the natural gas in the house and blows it up. Charley, his mother, and his girlfriend, Amy Peterson, barely escape with their lives, fleeing through the desert in their minivan. Jerry chases them with his truck, forcing them to crash. When their disabled car is then hit by another vehicle, Jerry kills the driver. Jerry then attacks Charley, and is only stopped by being staked by Charley's mother (with a real estate sign stake). She then faints from a head injury sustained in the crash.

Charley's mother is then admitted to a hospital. At the hospital, Charley gets a call from Peter telling him to come over. Peter gives Charley advice on how to defeat Jerry, but midway through the conversation Ed (now a vampire) shows up, posing as a package delivery boy. Charley and Ed fight while Peter hides in his panic room. Jerry, who survived the attack from Charley's mother, also arrives, and Amy manages to fight him off. Charley kills Ed, who briefly reassures Charley before dying that it's okay. With Jerry in pursuit, Charley and Amy then run into a club where they get separated in the crowd. Amy is bitten and taken by Jerry.

The next day Charley tells Peter that he is going after Jerry and he needs his help. Peter refuses and reveals that both of his parents were killed by a vampire (later revealed to be Jerry himself). He does, however, give Charley a stake that will kill Jerry and turn all of his victims back into humans. Charley goes to Jerry's house where Peter decides to join him after all. The two break all of the windows to let sunlight in.

They are led into Jerry's basement where they are attacked by many of Jerry's victims, now vampires, including Amy. Charley, having outfitted himself in a flame-retardant suit, lights himself on fire in order to burn and disorient Jerry while he tries to stake him. Peter assists him by shooting a hole in the floor above to allow sunlight in which burns Jerry. Charley quickly stabs Jerry in the heart, killing him instantly and returning his victims to their human form. Afterwards, Charley's mother recovers from the hospital and goes to shop for a new house as Charley and Amy make love in Peter's penthouse.

  L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

 Remake of Tom Holland's 1985 same name movie, Colin Farrell to act as a sexy hotty vampire is definitely a correct choice... The whole movie is kinda good and a bit funny, almost every part is a scene which cannot be left out, the only part i dislike is the vampire is a bit too cartoon, not scary enough :)

The Avengers 2012

Released Year: 2012

Directed by Joss Whedon

Casted by:

Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Tom Hiddleston as Loki

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill

Story:

Nick Fury, director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility during an evacuation. The tesseract, an energy source of unknown potential, has activated and opened a portal through space, from which the exiled Norse god Loki steps through. Loki takes the tesseract, and uses his abilities to control the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel including agent Clint Barton, and physicist consultant Dr. Erik Selvig in order to aid in his getaway.

In response to the attack, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative. Agent Natasha Romanoff  is sent to India to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner, while Agent Philip Coulson, approaches Tony Stark and requests that he review Selvig's research. Fury himself approaches Steve Rogers with an assignment to retrieve the tesseract from Loki. During his exile, Loki encountered the Other, an alien conqueror who in exchange for the Tesseract offers Loki an army of the alien race the Chitauri in order for him to subjugate Earth.

Rogers, Stark and Romanoff travel to Germany to apprehend Loki, who is recovering iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power and demanding that the civilians kneel before him. After a battle with Captain America, Loki surrenders and is escorted back to a S.H.I.E.L.D. plane. However, Thor, Loki's adoptive brother and the Norse god of thunder, arrives and attempts to free Loki to reason with him. Stark and Rogers confront Thor, and Loki is eventually returned to the Helicarrier, a high-tech, flying aircraft carrier, and placed in a cell designed to hold The Hulk.

The Avengers are divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plan to harness the tesseract's power to develop weapons. Fury admits that the events in New Mexico a year before made S.H.I.E.L.D. aware of extraterrestrial life, some of whom may see Earth as a target. The decision was made to produce weapons with the tesseract as a means of deterrence. As the group argues, Barton and Loki’s other possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines in flight. As Stark and Rogers attempt to restart the damaged engines, Banner transforms into the Hulk, despite Romanoff's best efforts to calm him down, and runs amok inside the ship, fighting Thor. During a fight with Barton, Romanoff discovers that a blow to the head — powerful enough to knock Barton unconscious — is enough to break Loki's mind control. Loki escapes, killing Agent Coulson as he does so, and Thor and the Hulk are each ejected from the ship.

Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. Stark and Rogers realize that simply defeating them will not be enough for Loki; he needs to overpower them in a very public way so as to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Using a device built by Selvig, Loki opens a portal to the Chitauri fleet over Manhattan, summoning a Chitauri invasion.

The Avengers rally in defense of New York, but quickly realize they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri descend upon Earth. With help from Barton, Rogers and Stark evacuate civilians, while Banner transforms into the Hulk again and goes after Loki, beating him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to the portal, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's staff can be used to close the portal.

Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and takes it through the portal toward the Chitauri fleet before running out of power and plummeting back to Earth, but the Hulk catches him as he falls. Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard, while Fury notes that the Avengers will go their separate ways until such time as a new world-threatening menace emerges.

In a post-credits scene, the Other confers with his master about the attack on Earth.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

I suppose to dislike this movie, i suppose not to watch this movie in cinema; but i love this movie and i watch it in cinema too :P At first when i saw the trailer, i thought that it was some rubbish film which they put all the superheroes together just for the sake of making a profitable movie, but this is good, real good... Beside having all those action scene about fighting with intruder from out of earth, there are some comedy scenes as well... Only thing i m dissapointed is, Mark Ruffalo look kinda old in this film... i still prefer Eric Bana as Hulk.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by David Fincher

Casted by:

Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist
 Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander
Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger
Stellan Skarsgård as Martin Vanger
Joely Richardson as Anita Vanger / Harriet Vanger

 Story:

 Mikael Blomkvist, co-owner of Swedish "Millennium" magazine, has just lost a libel case brought against him by crooked businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström. Meanwhile, Lisbeth Salander, a researcher and computer hacker, has compiled an extensive background check on Blomkvist for a job that Swedish magnate, Henrik Vanger wants him to perform.

In exchange for damning information about Wennerström, Blomkvist agrees to investigate the disappearance and possible murder of Henrik's grandniece, Harriet, 40 years ago. While hunting for clues, Blomkvist uncovers a notebook filled with information that may help explain Harriet's disappearance.

Salander, who is under state legal guardianship due to diagnosed mental incompetency, is appointed a new guardian, lawyer Nils Bjurman. He abuses his authority to extort sexual favors from Salander and then forcibly rapes her. She eventually regains control of her life by blackmailing Bjurman after stunning him with a taser, raping him with a dildo, and marking him as a rapist with a tattoo on his chest and stomach.

Blomkvist hires Salander to further investigate the notebook's content, and she uncovers a connection to a series of murders that occurred from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s. During further investigation, Salander and Blomkvist become lovers. Henrik's brother Harald identifies Martin, Harriet's brother, as a possible suspect. Meanwhile, Salander makes increasingly revealing connections between Harriet's disappearance and the entire Vanger dynasty.

Blomkvist breaks into Martin's house to look for more clues, but Martin catches him. Martin brags about his crimes, but denies killing Harriet. Salander arrives, surprises Martin and saves Blomkvist. While Salander is tending to Blomkvist, Martin flees. Salander, on her motorcycle, pursues Martin in his SUV. He loses control of his vehicle on an icy road and dies when it catches fire.

As more connections are made about the Vanger family, Blomkvist deduces that Harriet is still alive, living under a false identity to hide from Martin. Blomkvist confronts Harriet, who describes the generations of abuse within the Vanger family and Martin's knowledge of her involvement in her father's death. Finally free of her brother, thanks to Salander and Blomkvist, Harriet returns to Sweden and tearfully reunites with Henrik.

As promised, Henrik gives Blomkvist the information on Wennerström, but it is not helpful. Salander responds by hacking Wennerström's computer and presenting Blomkvist with the necessary incriminating information about his activities. This evidence vindicates "Millennium" and destroys Wennerström.

Salander also hacks into Wennerström's bank accounts and transfers two billion euros into her own accounts. During this time, Wennerström is murdered. On her way to give Blomkvist a Christmas present, Salander sees Blomkvist and his longtime lover and business partner Erika Berger walking together happily. Heartbroken, she throws the gift away and rides off on her motorcycle.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

 Everyone is cheering for this 2011 hit movie from Steven Zailian's novel. I have no time to read the novel even though my friend borrow me the novel for almost 2 months, so i watch the movie instead. The whole movie is nice, brutal and kinda violence... but the thing is, i feel that the movie is a bit too long and draggy... 

Rooney Mara is the shine of this movie based on her outlook and acting, Daniel Craig in another hand is as hot as before and more delicious i should say :)