I'll tell you why so serious

Best movie of this year hands down!

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Movie: Straw Dogs (UA)Rating: 4/5I haven't seen the original yet but was compelled to watch this film as the poster was very impressive, as was the trailer. Even though the reviews and IMDb rating both weren't very positive, I couldn't resist myself from watching it. And I was seriously impressed. I saw it dubbed in Hindi and the dubbing too was quite excellent.STRAW DOGS is an intense action thriller, and I mean it. The film is quite intense throughout, but the real intensity comes out in the heavily impressive action packed climax. James Marsden is enough of a reason to watch the film as his look is extremely amazing. He excels in the film throughout, and is a treat to watch in the climax where he shows an exactly different of what you'll have expected. Kate Bosworth is decent, though there's nothing much remarkable about the performance. Alexander Skarsgard as the antagonist is however very impressive. The visuals of the film are praiseworthy, and there's a tense feel throughout the film. The first half is engaging and decently written, and it's towards the beginning of the second hour that the intensity increases. Many sequences have been executed extremely well.The character development too needs to be highly appreciated as it has been projected skilfully and convincingly. The action sequences are, definitely a treat to watch and form a major highlight of the film. The theme music is quite good and memorable. The dialogues are decently written and delivered. Thr cinematography, undoubtedly is a major asset to the film. Besides, the Hindi dubbing is excellent as said before and the voice used for James fits him very well.STRAW DOGS is a well made action thriller which has plenty of intense moments, making it a worthy watch.

For the 30th anniversary of Dustin Hoffman's classic film, Straw Dogs, the studio decided instead of re-releasing a special edition, that they would do a modern re-make of the film. For those unfamiliar with the story, it features a local girl, from a small Mississippi town, who has returned home with her new husband, after making it big in Hollywood. Once back in town, the new couple needs some work on the old farm that she inherited and hire an old friend of hers to do the job. The team is the most qualified in town, but right from the start you can see the tension starting to build. Straw Dogs is far from being a unique story, but what I really enjoyed about it was how methodical it was. The jealousy and tension are obvious from the start, but they build it slowly, through a serious of events, which lends credibility to both sides of the argument. Things continue to build right up until the end of the film when all hell breaks loose, thanks to an incident that really shouldn't involve either the workers or the couple. James Marsden and Kate Bosworth star and are both very good, but the star that shines the brightest is Alexander Skarsgard. I've never seen him in anything before and had no expectations about the kind of job he'd do and I was blown away. He really had to play two different roles in this film and it leads to some shocking and unexpected moments. Comparing the 2011 re-make to the original film, the stories are very similar, whoever I found in parts where the original was a little slow, the re-make turns up the intensity, and that's the way things should be. A lot of re-makes don't even compare to the original and are seldom better, but in this case it was. The producers looked back at the old film and enhanced the parts of the original that were too slow or didn't make a whole lot of sense, before modernizing the whole thing. There are some people who will never admit to liking a re-make, but I think with Straw Dogs, the producers took a good film and turned it into a great one.

As only ever seeing parts of the original, with this remake, I'm pretty sure I'd still enjoy this versions better. Remakes tend to be livelier than originals. Here there's a forty year stretch. Marsden in one of his best roles (an actor who by now really deserves recognition) and his girlfriend (Kate Bosworth) really sexing it up here, move out to the country, where Bosworth was once a resident. Screenwriter, Marsden, has come out here to get some peace and quiet to work on his writing. When a group of townsfolk laborers, led by a jealous ex boyfriend of Bosworth's, come out to build a barnhouse, so begins an unnerving game to test one's patience, the main operative being Marsden, where these tradesmen show some uncanny behaviour and unnerving traits. If familiar with the premise of the original, we're treading the exact same waters, where we really get good performances out of the cast, notably Alexander Skarsgard, as the grudging ex, intent on seeing outsider, Marsden break, where they're main objective is to eventually drive em' out. But what's great about this Straw Dogs, as again I haven't seen most of the original, was a subplot in the third act, which leads to an ending on a path you don't expect it to go, involving an accidental murder, with now a much avenging townsfolk, where an almost intensely suffocating finale ensues. As for violence, it's sparse, only used with necessary, here one visual standout, a squirming, bone breaking moment, I guess to pun it up. I found the movie, most entertainingly rewarding, all through, something to talk about, with an ending I didn't expect, as I did a version of the song Breathless, unsung by Jerry Lee Lewis, here, coming across Marsden's radio. Willa Holland is delicious eye candy, looking appetizing, full cheerleader uniform and all, the apple of an older retarded guy's eye (Dominic Purcell) and she doesn't exactly mind too, where they have an open relationship. An aging James Woods as Holland's father, who really storms with anger when provoked, I didn't recognize at first. I guess we all get old.

For the first time ever, I was completely unbiased to watch a remake! Usually Hollywood always has the god-awful and annoying habit of remaking personal favorite horror/cult movies of mine that are already impeccable and not really suitable for improvement, but regarding "Straw Dogs" I felt a lot less concerned since I never was a die-hard admirer of Sam Peckinpah's original from 1971. Surely I acknowledge its importance and influence for the genre, but still mainly consider it to be a deeply unpleasant movie that all too enthusiastically glorifies senseless violence and somehow spreads the message that every man needs to undergo a couple of rape and violence rituals in order to become a real man. "Straw Dogs" 2011 also isn't just any random remake from an aspiring young director who desperately needed an obvious jumping board to success, but by the intelligent writer/director Rod Lurie. He inserted a couple of relevant changes (like the geographical transfer from redneck Southern England to redneck Southern United States) and efficiently put the emphasis on in-depth character development. There's still a fair portion of harsh violence and misogynic brutality in this version, mind you, but at least it's depicted in a lot less gratuitous and joyous way. The infamous rape sequence, for example, still evokes debates regarding provocation but at least the script doesn't all too obviously endorse the so-called 'rape-myth' that all women secretly desire to be physically dominated. The rest of the plot remains the same as well (also because it's a book adaption, of course) and thus focuses on a successful couple temporarily moving to the girl's hometown in Southern Mississippi. The (re-)integration in this traditional and underdeveloped community leads to embarrassing situations for the husband and humiliating confrontations for the wife, as her former boyfriend Charlie and his gang of tough huntsmen penetrate themselves into their lives. Things come to a bloody climax when David and Amy want to prevent the locals from executing private justice. "Straw Dogs" effectively bathes in grim and unsettling atmosphere and hugely benefices from the performances. James Marsden and Kate Bosworth are excellent, but particularly the local hillbillies are portrayed in a disturbingly realistic matter. Amongst them also the always reliable James Woods as a hellish football coach. Also, respecting the rules of cinema, there's some fuzz about a bear claw rather early in the film, so you just know this particularly gruesome and inventive murder instrument will be back in the finale as well.PS: lovely soundtrack with, amongst others, the wondrous ballad "Summer Wine" by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. I hadn't heard that song in years, but I now instantly added it to my play lists again.