filmland / By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill and Devan King

Film Festivus

From Cruise to tattoos, Tintin to aliens, here’s your holiday movie grab bag

(Dec. 29, 2011) THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Journalist Mikael Blomqvist (Daniel Craig) is enlisted to investigate the long-ago disappearance of Henrik Vanger’s (Christopher Plummer) niece. Suspects abound — there are Nazis, drunks and abusers in every branch of the family tree.

The heroine, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a punk hacker/researcher, is also among villains, and neither her suffering nor her revenge is for the faint of heart. The film follows Blomqvist and his soon-to-be assistant Lisbeth separately, then joins and separates them again seamlessly, building real suspense. Little by little, Lisbeth and Blomqvist uncover the ugliness beneath the smooth, shiny surface that one aging Nazi likens to an Ikea table.

Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in Tattoo

GALLERY >

Rabid fans of the novel may bristle at any adaptation, particularly an American remake, but director David Fincher’s pacing and cast are unassailable. Mara’s Lisbeth is fascinating. Her face is a smooth white mask over boiling black rage, and she responds to threats either with quick and sure violence or by looking away and disappearing into herself.

Craig makes for an admittedly more butch Blomqvist than in the earlier Swedish film, but also a more vulnerable one. It may be a shock to see our new James Bond whining over a few DIY stiches, but his chemistry with Mara is truly believable. And he does a fine job as a man obsessed. The always excellent Plummer has the gallows smile of one who lives among his enemies, and Stellan Skaarsgard is marvelous as an inscrutable charmer. R. 158m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, Minor and Fortuna.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — GHOST PROTOCOL plays like a crowd-pleasing greatest hits of the franchise, zipping between Dubai and Mumbai with disguises, gadgetry and black-tie undercover work. This time, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) ushers agents Benji (Simon Pegg) and Jane (Paula Patton) from one wild scheme to another, breaking into the Kremlin and chasing after nuclear launch codes, picking up analyst Brandt (Jeremy Renner) along the way.

Everyone is disavowed — these are hard times for spies, too, evidently — and their flawless executions and seamless cons don’t last long into the film. Equipment failure plagues the crew, which must cope with choppy communications and faulty gadgets. It’s a clever way to revive the tension after three slick movies.

Our heroes are malfunctioning, too, hesitating to take leaps, then landing hard, sometimes face first. Cruise is wise to trade youthful cockiness for a hint of self-doubt, even if he still clenches his jaw to express it. Back stories are weak, but Pegg’s nervous chatter is good fun.

Unfailing confidence belongs to the bad guys, a female assassin with the blank-faced menace of a runway model, and Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), a pro-doomsday nuclear theorist. He’s bland as villains go, driven by flavorless rationality. Director Brad Bird keeps the fun going with inventive chases and near misses. The fight choreography is top-notch, and Renner gives Cruise a run for his money in fast hand-to-hand combat. PG13. 133m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek and Fortuna.

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE >SHARE