LTROI mini review

[tman]

I'm a long time LMI fan, who, for various reasons has only just got round to watching LTROI. I watched a double bill, with LMI first. I've been waiting a long time (too long!) to see LTROI, but had too because I don't think it's fair to heap praise on one, while not seeing the other to see where it all started. I've tried not to be biased, and watched LTROI with an impartial mind. I did have to watch LMI first though, just because it is such an exceptional movie.

I'm going to overlook the glaring scene similarities between the two films, because they were both based off the book, so key moments were always going to be similar. I just picked a few key scenes for comparison.

Setting
Well, Blackberg was certainly bleak, and not a place a lot would like to live, but because LTROI was set with a much brighter tone visually, I don't think it had the same feeling as the dark, oppressive Los Alamos. Keeping things darker just added to the feeling that Los Alamos was the back end of the world, like, why would anyone want to be there! I actually thought Blackberg had a certain charm and character, albeit one that maybe few would like to experience. At least the snow looked very real there! I also think the apartments where Oskar lived only overlooked the climbing frame, where in LMI they surrounded it, adding to the oppressive feeling that was built up. Other than that, while I'm sure in Sweden, Blackberg is considered a pretty run-down place, in my eyes, it was not how I saw it in the movie.

Characters
Honestly, I didn't relate to or feel any compassion for Oskar at all. I felt his home life actually wasn't that bad. Sure, his mom and dad had split, but his mother was always there for him, watched out for him, and he seemed to have fun with his father when he saw him. Sure, Oskar had problems at school, but I just felt he acted like a bit of a wimp to be honest. Owen had none of that. He was totally alone in the world, which made the whole bond the viewer built up with him that much stronger. The character of Eli was well portrayed, but I still didn't quite feel it was right. She was a bit limp and lifeless in my eyes (maybe that was intended). I did think she made far more of the scenes she was in though, and I was happy to watch her (what's with her eyes, they looked like saucers or cats eyes in some scenes). The character of Haken in LTROI was a joke though. What was he, a comedian? I just felt nothing for him. He was just going about his day job 'killing' people, and almost revelling in it. Rubbing his hands as he packed his stuff, eating his apple. What was all that about? With Thomas, you literally felt the world was on his shoulders, he was tired, he'd had enough. Every move was an effort, every killing filled with remorse. Every step you took with him. There was no contest there at all for me.

Oh yes, would Haken in LTROI really have done the acid thing at that point? He wasn't under any real stress as far as I could tell. He could probably have pushed past those boys in the locker room and got out. I didn't feel for him at all. There was no emotional weight to him. Thomas was trapped in the car, he couldn't get out. He was done for. He knew the police were on there way, and he had to act quickly to protect Abby.

The supporting characters in Blackberg were ok, but felt a little out of place. Like some old peoples home. They wouldn't have taken matters into their own hands. Where were the cops for god sake? No, they might as well have hunted Eli down with torches as they marched up to the castle screaming. The expansion of the 'Virginia' character in LTROI was interesting. I'd have liked to have seen more of that, but why, when she thought she'd been 'infected' by Eli did she want to die straight away? She had no idea what it was at that point, whether she'd get better or worse. The doctors wouldn't have known either. What would a blood test have shown? Yes Virginia, your blood test shows you're now a vampire? Nobody would say they wanted to die, it's not natural. Give her a few months/years of knowing what she'd been cursed with, and she might have changed her mind, but not straight away like she did. Ok, daylight did get her, but she said she wanted to die before that.

Acting
Sorry, but Chloe/Kodi acted the pants of the other two. I really didn't think the lad playing Oskar could act at all. He was a bit wooden. He couldn't convey emotion, and when put in a scene that demanded powerful responses, he just sort of blanked. Oh yes, and somebody wipe his damn nose! The girl playing Eli was better. I suppose as an aging vampire, there wouldn't have been a lot of emotion to show, but she did very well considering she was playing against a plank. The gym teacher at the school was just an idiot who didn't add anything either. As I said before, the 'father' in LTROI was a bit of a joke, and I didn't feel his acting was up to much either.

Bullies
Give me a break. The bullies in LTROI felt like they couldn't scare a fly. Only the lead bully had anything about him, and that wasn't much. The other two just wimpered and cryed at most things, and obviously didn't want to be there. If Oskar had just punched the 'lead' bully, he'd have buckled over straight away. I found the bullies in LMI far more menacing and intimidating, probably because of the emotional strain and isolation on Owen that was building up at the same time. You knew Owen was vulnerable becasue of this, and was likely to be bullied just for being different. Kids sense that, and can exploit it.

Music
Well, I was expecting great things from LTROI. Many had said the music was excellent, powerful, and better than LMI. Sorry, but I actually thought there wasn't that much music in LTROI. Certain scenes had a lifting score (Oskar on the iced over lake), but there were long stretches of nothing. The slow, powerful build up of the music in LMI was far more involving. It lifted the film to greater heights, and at the right moments.

SFX
Granted, being a US film, LMI did do more with the SFX (expected in some ways with Hammer behind them). We all know vampire Abby, and she was made to look truly demonic and brutal, but I think that's not such a bad thing. It highlighted more the differences between the girl and the monster. They were totally different, and this made you feel far more attached to Abby. Eli was a girl no matter that, and while some say this is more realistic in how it might happen (I probably can't argue with that), I didn't feel the same emotional bond with Eli as you did with Abby. You wanted the girl in Abby to win out and become normal so she could be with Owen. Eli's character didn't have that about her. She was just who she was. I did like the more natural attack scenes in LTROI, and the way Eli climbed the hospital. Not saying it was better then LMI, but it was different and well done.

Pool Scene
Well, everyone who'd watched LTROI and loved it said the pool scene in LMI was not as good. I actually didn't see much in them to be honest. Why did people think the pool scene in LMI was inferior? I think the tension in LMI was greater, but once Owen/Oskar were under water, it was quite similar (not so many floating body parts in LTROI though). I know you did see Eli at the end again, but only briefly, and in some ways I can see why Reeve's took this out of LMI. He'd made monster Abby look very different, so at that point, you didn't know who Owen was looking at, and at that moment, it didn't matter to Owen. With Eli, it was always just going to be the girl, so I guess it didn't matter too much. Ok, and explain this to me. When the 'brother' is about to duck Oskar for 3m, why didn't Oscar just swim to the middle of the pool? He literally came over when called like a puppy. He looked quite comfortable in the water, and I'm sure could swim. Would the others have jumped in with all their clothes on? Owen was thrown in, and didn't look like he could actually swim very well, so naturally would have gone straight to the edge once he surfaced.

Bathroom Scene
So, Lacke goes looking for Eli for revenge. Wanders into the (open) apartment, grabs a knife and heads for the bathroom, preparing to stab Eli in the neck. Seems like he's got enough light to see what he's doing (the apartment is pretty well lit up), but no, he pulls back the cardboard from the window first, allowing Eli to wake as Oskar warns her. Oskar closes the door straight away and lets her get on with it. In Lacke's eyes, Eli was always the culprit, so he know's what he's got to do. In LMI, the cop didn't, so he was shocked with what he found. He didn't go in there expecting to find a girl and certainly not to kill her. Owen was truly mortified with what he saw Abby do, and you felt every bit of emotion in him then. The pause as he reaches out before finally committing himself to what was to come. There was nowhere near the same tension in that scene in LTROI, so it didn't work as well for me as in LMI.

Abby/Thomas Eli/Haken Scene
This was a very important moment in the movie as far as I'm concerned, but when Eli approached Haken as he was getting ready to go out, you just didn't sense the feeling between them as you did with Abby/Thomas. I just couldn't believe how much shorter this scene was. A quick touch of his cheek, and that's it. Thomas was breaking at the point Abby held his face, and he held it there for what seemed like ages. You could see it in his eyes, here it in his voice. That carried far more power than the LTROI scene.

The best scene conveying feeling for me in LTROI was when Eli got into Oskar's bed, and was stroking and caressing his arm. That was quite intense and meaningful. Shame Oskar had fallen asleep though!

So, I did like LTROI. It was a good film. LMI though, was a great film. A classic. The emotional weight LMI put on the viewers shoulders was immense. You so bonded with the characters, and not just to Abby/Owen, but Thomas and the cop, even the bullies to a degree. There was an oppressive sense about LMI that just drew you in which I just didn't get from LTROI. Would it have been different if I'd seen LTROI first? Possibly, difficult to tell, but I think I would always believe LMI was the better made film. Oh yeh, don't get me started on the cat attack scene in LTROI, which was truly laughable.

I remember finishing watching LMI for the first time, and felt almost crushed under the weight. How could a film do this to someone? It has stayed with me for weeks now, and many viewings later, I still feel the same. I didn't finish watching LTROI feeling anywhere near the same. It has some power, but a lot of the emotion was lost in the iffy main characters. Because the didn't convey the emotion well, I didn't pick it up, so finished watching the movie thinking, well, yes it was good, but in a couple of weeks I know what film I'm still going to be thinking about. One other thing, the subtitles in LTROI didn't bother me one bit. Easy to read and follow, so I'm not including these to the detrament of the movie.

A couple of final things. I didn't think there was any question about Oskar's future role at the end of the movie. He was the new 'father'. That was definately not the case in LMI. The way the bond had grown between Abby and Owen meant this was not as clear cut, which is one of the reasons why LMI has stayed with me this long. I know the LTODD short sequel did say Eli changed Oskar, but LTROI didn't push or imply this. Lastly, what was the urgency for Oskar to leave with Eli? Going back to my first comment, his home life wasn't that bad. Oskar's mother was furious when he got reported for hitting the bully, so she cared! The toothbrush scene in their apartment highlighted the strong bond between Oskar and his mother. I just don't believe he'd have up and left like that.

I'm probably going to get flamed to death now, as I know some are so passionate about LTROI, and I can understand that in some ways. I will watch it again, as I believe subsequent viewings of a movie held in such high regard by many are warranted, and you will look deeper next time round, but, this won't change my opinion that in this case, LMI dropped a lot of the 'baggage' LTROI carried, and concentrated on what was the core story of the book, which was the kids and the 'father'. This is what it was all about, and LMI worked better for me because of this.

Guess I should read the book now!!

[mackousko]

Abby/Thomas Eli/Haken Scene
This was a very important moment in the movie as far as I'm concerned, but when Eli approached Haken as he was getting ready to go out, you just didn't sense the feeling between them as you did with Abby/Thomas. I just couldn't believe how much shorter this scene was. A quick touch of his cheek, and that's it.

Yeah right.

Guess I should read the book now!!

You should.

[a_contemplative_life]

Do read the book--you'll enjoy it!

Why did you think that Owen's future vis-a-vis Abby was more ambiguous that Oskar's with Eli? I do not remember feeling, at the end of LTROI when I saw it for the first time, having the distinct impression that Oskar would become the next Hakan. So I'm curious to know why you feel that way.

[tman]

Do read the book--you'll enjoy it!

Why did you think that Owen's future vis-a-vis Abby was more ambiguous that Oskar's with Eli? I do not remember feeling, at the end of LTROI when I saw it for the first time, having the distinct impression that Oskar would become the next Hakan. So I'm curious to know why you feel that way.

Probably because the bond between Eli/Oskar just didn't feel as intense. It was growing no doubt, but I just feel if they hadn't spent so much time with the other people in Blackberg that there would have been more time for the relationship to evolve. You can only fit so much into two hours, and the tactics played out to involve others detracted from this rather than added to it. Honestly, anybody outside of the core characters were inconsequential to the story. Ok, you needed Lacke and Virginia because he was the one out for revenge in this case, and you needed to know the back story there, but some other scenes were just unnecessary.

I'm not totally alone with this opinion, and don't get me wrong, it was a good movie. Don't right someone elses views off because they don't match your own. Likewise, I understand a lot of people here felt LMI was a poor US 'remake' of LTROI. I will not try and change your mind, but this is just how I felt.

I wasn't expecting to come away from LTROI thinking this was one of the best things I'd ever seen, but I did expect more. In this case, I have to defend LMI and say, all things taken into consideration, it was a more focused, more emotional telling of the same story.

[gary13136]

Deja vu---again.

When all is said and done, it all comes down to personal tastes.

[ofelia]

It's interesting. I had some of the same feelings watching it, except that I hadn't seen LMI first. I had read the book though. And all the statements you made about Oskar not having it all that bad and why Håkan would pour acid on himself, etc, made sense to me. The book is brutal. There was a lot they could have used to make things just that much more intense. I thought the bullies in LMI were closer to the novel in the way they treated Owen. There was also just such a toned-down atmosphere to the Swedish film that it almost didn't feel like the same story... The book reads like a mystery/thriller at times and the action is intense, making the quiet scenes stand out even more. I thought both films were interesting for different reasons, but neither of them had the impact that the book did. I guess it all depends on what you find first.

[a_contemplative_life]

I won't write off your views. I was just curious.

I've said this before, but I think a big factor in which film people like more has to do with which one they saw first. It's not the only factor, but I think it's a big one.

I'll be interested to hear more of your thoughts on the films once you have read the novel!

[PeteMork]

Actually, I think this is a well-thought-out review. You've given not only your opinions, but your reasons behind them.

I myself saw a much closer bond between Oskar and Eli than I did between Owen and Abby. Owen didn't seem to have a difficult choice to make when he left with Abby. His mother was a drunk religious nut, and his father seemed incapable of understanding his own son's concerns. In a case like that, even I would not have found that a difficult choice to make. Oskar, as you pointed out, DID have a mother who seemed to care, and also, when sober, a father. That, IMO, made Oskar's choice much more difficult to make. He actually could have stayed, but his love for Eli was so great that he left anyway. And, like ACL, the idea that he would end up like Håkan never entered my mind. In LTROI, there was no love expressed at all between Eli and Håkan; only a sort of condescending affection, like one might express to a friend...or a dog. The book actually defines their relationship much more clearly, and after reading it, I suspect you'll see that LTROI more accurately portrays that relationship.

I do agree with you about the bullies, although it's really a matter of how both Oskar and Owen perceived the danger they were in. The bullies in LMI could have made hash out of the ones in LTROI. But, ironically, that made the bullies in LTROI less black and white; more nuanced, as they would have been in real life.

And the bedroom scene in LTROI? One of the most touching, scenes I have ever seen in a film, totaly cementing their relationship in my own mind. If there was doubt before, it vanished after this scene played out; and only Lina Leandersson could have pulled this off -- a great beginning for a budding young actress IMO.

[varamiglite]

I've always felt quite the opposite as to which character (Owen or Oskar) if either would become the next caretaker. I always thought since Oskar was obsessed with murder he would at some point gladly become a vampire, possibly for all the wrong reasons at first. To me Owen just wouldn't have it in him and I'm also not sure he has it in him to replace Thomas either. I worry that at some point as Owen gets older and Abby keeps pushing for him to kill for her that he will jump ship. I take more from how each boy acted than what might have actually been the truth. Owen bore his emotions right out in the open whereas Oskar kept how he felt quiet, almost like he didn't want to give the bullies the satisfaction. Take the "give me the Morse code" paper scene for example, Owen was brave but was very reluctant in doing so. Oskar knew what was coming and hardened himself for it, not even a whimper when Martin slashed his face with the switch. The pool scene is another example of how the two differ emotionally. Both look up in awe of their savior, but Owen has a look of terror and Oskar almost has a look that could have easily been followed by the words "that was awesome!"

I agree that Hakan is a very flat character in the movie because so little is known about him. The movie gives no insight as to who he is or how he got involved with Eli, not even implied. This is where reading the book becomes essential! Without it it's impossible to understand Hakan or to care that he exists at all. Hakan could have been a cardboard cutout through the entire film and most people would not have noticed unless they had read the book first. They did no buildup as to who he was and for me it left him dead where he stood. The character of Thomas is a little more interesting because at least we know enough about him to form an opinion of him. Read the book and you may understand why Hakan wasn't a more major character in the movie.

To sum it all up, read the book. It'll help fill in some of the gaps that both movies left wide open. The book is also much less pretty than the movies, at some points it's downright filthy, but it's necessary to make for a powerful and beautiful story. Pretty and beautiful are two very different things in my world.

[DavidZahir]

I've said this before, but I think a big factor in which film people like more has to do with which one they saw first. It's not the only factor, but I think it's a big one.

Very true. I encountered the same when people discussed Ringu versus The Ring, the two versions really showing off wildly different cultural norms. In the Japanese film, the threat was to society, whereas in the American it was to individuals. Likewise what was explained--in the first film, exactly why this little girl was so dangerous was pretty much told to you (she was somehow an infection of the ocean's chaos into her mother) while in the second it was never even hinted at--yet other questions were answered rather explicitly (like "Why seven days?"). LTROI feels very European, and from what I've been told extremely Swedish where what isn't said remains as important as what is, if not moreso. Likewise, I get a real sense of fatalism in the Swedish film (similar to what I feel when reading of seeing the works of Ibsen, who was Norwegian, but still...). LMI, dealing with American characters, kinda requires more elements to push Owen into Abby's arms.

I do agree with you about the bullies, although it's really a matter of how both Oskar and Owen perceived the danger they were in.

Very true. In LTROI there are more actual incidents, and one gets the impression from Oskar this is something so common he's come to expect this. It all began years and years ago, and probably won't stop until he's an adult, if then! Mind you, having them call this skinny lad "Piggy" seems odd, but then my brother (who was slightly husky as a child) got routinely called "fatso" by a kid who was morbidly obese. Bullies don't really make much sense. They're just looking for an excuse to beat someone down (this came across more clearly in LMI at least imho).

I agree that Hakan is a very flat character in the movie because so little is known about him.

I cannot agree, because the actor did such a magnificent job of conveying so much, albeit subtly. His eyes told me so much of his shame, his desires (for Eli--I immediately thought "pedophile" the first time we saw him look at her), his almost masochistic worship of her (that "Forgive me" spoke volumes). Others didn't see it, but I did and hadn't read the book yet.

Actually, I think this is a well-thought-out review. You've given not only your opinions, but your reasons behind them.

Me, too. Reviews are too often whine fests or chances for someone to show off how witty they are--or, just gushing tributes to how wildly cool and awesome this flick/book/t.v. show is without any real insights. And yes, I do include most professional reviews as well.

To sum it all up, read the book. It'll help fill in some of the gaps that both movies left wide open. The book is also much less pretty than the movies, at some points it's downright filthy, but it's necessary to make for a powerful and beautiful story. Pretty and beautiful are two very different things in my world.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! For the win!