|
Let Me In
| Released |
5 November 2010 |
| Director |
Matt Reeves |
Starring
|
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Elias Koteas, Richard Jenkins |
| Writer(s) |
Matt Reeves |
Producer(s)
|
Simon Oakes, Nigel Sinclair, Guy East, Donna Gigliotti, Alex Brunner, John Nordling, Carl Molinder |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
115 minutes |
| Genre |
Horror |
| Rating |
16 |
|
|
Unnecessary remake.
Let Me In was always going to be a tough sell. The film that inspired this remake, 2008's Let The Right One In, was for many one of that year’s best movies and for Hollywood to cash in on its success this soon felt unwelcome and certainly uninvited. Overture and Hammer Studios (the film’s financiers) have repeatedly declared their love of the original and their creative lust at putting their mark on that movie’s ideals but really that transparent talk is driven by the thoughts of the money Let Me In will inevitably make them. This movie can never be Tomas Alfredson’s labour of love, its driving force is the fact that American audiences have little time for foreign films.
To try and view Let Me In as a standalone movie is a difficult task as bar some minor changes, Matt Reeves stays well within the originals borders. A good move because to mess with convention would surely result in a lesser film but then again some scenes in Let Me In are so copycat that they provide a constant reminder that this is a remake. It seems poor Reeves can't win. Not to take from his ability as a director, he proved his worth with 2008's Cloverfield and when he has spoken publicly about his second feature his passion seems genuine, unlike the people backing him. And to be fair Reeves does in many ways put his own stamp on his version. Let Me In is definitely a horror movie whereas its predecessor romanced with the idea of potentially being a horror movie. Reeves also plays with the movie’s father/daughter relationship. This is a small and important change for Let Me In as it creates the single biggest difference between it and the original. It's a bold move as ultimately it chisels away at the idea of the children's future together, the odds of a ‘happily ever after’ story are greatly slimmed.
Reeves’ passion for this project is again reinforced by his choices made in casting the film. I have no doubts that in Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz the acting world has potentially its next Leo DiCaprio or Natalie Portman. Like their director they have proven themselves before and here in their most mature and challenging roles to date both excel. Their relationship is as close as Let Me In gets to matching its childhood vampire love story inspiration and even at that it falls just short. It's also worth mentioning that the CGI used in this film is both unnecessary and of poor quality. A small negative but in this day and age an issue that shouldn't arise.
Let Me In is far from a bad movie and if you never plan on watching the original then I would highly recommend paying the admission price to see it. Sadly as a standalone project it can never step out of the shadow cast by its Swedish forefather.
- David Prendergast |
