J-horror maestro Hideo Nakata's original Dark Water, made in 2002, was an exercise in slow-building tension and creep-out moments rather than 'boo!' scares. Walter Salles, apparently slumming it in remake land after the excellent Motorcycle Diaries, loses all semblance of cultural relevance and significance in his import - as usually happens with remakes of Asian cinema. Where Nakata's use of of long, quiet stretches of little-to-nothing happening helped build the madness brewing inside his protagonist, Salles' take simply runs out of juice and plods along, boring and beige. Jennifer Connelly, a great actress most of the time, is wasted. A twist ending that takes the logic biscuit and throws it out the window doesn't help matters, replacing the original's deservedly super-bleak ending and replacing it with one semi-tragic and irrational.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
