RE-QUEL
Overdoing Do-Overs – Part Two
Article by Paul Preston
In part one of my look at remakes, I discussed the merit of remaking an old film – moneygrab or worthwhile? I weighed in on the few exceptions to the idea that remakes are cynical and looked at re-dos of foreign films. I’d go into further detail about the article, but then I’d essentially be re-writing it and undercutting my whole point.
So, onward.
Let’s say you’re in Hollywood and you’ve no desire to come up with an original idea. You’re thinking – remake. You’re thinking this mostly due to nostalgia. It’s the idea of feeling the way you felt when you loved the movie the first time that’s appealing…to anyone – you, the investors, the audience, everyone. Familiarity will keep you from the burden of risk. You can even show everything that will happen in the movie in the trailer because half your audience knows what will happen anyway. The whole prospect is safe.
In fact, people may not even remember that you made the movie! Remember the 2009 remake of Fame? Yeah. That happened. Released in theaters and everything. There was a remake of Carrie, and not just a YouTube spoof, but a full-fledged studio film. They remade The Manchurian Candidate. With big names! – Denzel, Meryl Streep and more. Adam Sandler’s biggest box office earner of all time was a remake. Now you’re thinking, “Sandler’s biggest box office movie? So, Happy Gilmore? Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer?”. No, it’s The Longest Yard, and you probably forgot that it was ever made.
You want to tap into the nostalgia but be remembered? If you’re following industry trends (and I never thought I’d say this) – make a sequel. If the box office of Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are any indicator, people would much rather return to the world they already know than see it redone. A trip to the deserts of Mad Max have gotten the franchise its best reviews yet and its first Oscar nominations (and wins) to boot. And Creed proved Rocky had more life in him, when the boxing film formula was honored and revitalized at the same time. That may be the real trick to cinematic franchise longevity – remember the past and wisely use it to launch the future. Even Vacation did it! It seems the original surviving cast members of Ghostbusters will appear in the 2016 reboot…but will they be Venkman, Dana, Stantz and Zeddemore? I hope so, a Ghostbusters world without a nod to those characters would be a shame.
Once upon a time, the great Siskel & Ebert, often referenced in these pages, noted that remakes should only be greenlit to improve a bad film, to take a second swipe at an idea that was pretty good, but perhaps poorly executed. I’m all for this.
– After his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, why not a Howard the Duck re-do? The current Marvel Studios team is so spot-in with their on-screen translations of even the most challenging content (LIKE Guardians of the Galaxy) that Howard is bound to have a better outing in a remake than he did the first time around with George Lucas overseeing things.
– The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a GREAT idea, BOTCHED by the production team and sending Sean Connery into retirement on the wrong note. The concept deserves another shot.
– Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle and Catwoman characters were pretty outstanding in Batman Returns. When Catwoman branched out on her own in 2004, the results were no fun whatsoever in a film I walked out on – and I saw it on a flight (BOOM). Catwoman could use a return, but the current state of the DC Universe with its gloom-and-doom look and fan film feel doesn’t inspire confidence.
The age old question is, “Should you really open yourself up to trashing the legacy of the movie you love?”. Psycho (1998) seems like the most notorious remake that is universally derided by moviegoers (online to this day!). It plays out like an experimental film with a studio budget that will never be remembered over its source material. So…waste of time, then? I would rather have director Gus van Sant experimenting with something original, broadening a slate of movies that ring distinctly of his signature, rather than copying Hitchcock’s.
So before you get too down on all these superhero movies wearing out their welcome, at least Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Dr. Strange and Black Panther are brand new. Red Dawn (2012), Straw Dogs (2011), The Bad News Bears (2005), Arthur (2011), About Last Night (2014), Fright Night (2011), Alfie (2004), Endless Love (2014), The Evil Dead (2013), Halloween (2007), Poltergeist (2015), A Nightmare on Elm St. (2010), The Wicker Man (2006), The Karate Kid (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010) and the ninety-six remakes in production are not.
Movies, we can do better. People always say the book is better than the movie. And they’re right. But no one ever re-writes a book.
