Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Why Hollywood needs to stop with the remakes


I’m sick of remakes.

I’m sick of horror remakes.

I’m sick of musical remakes.

I’m sick of science fiction remakes.

I’m just sick to death of remakes.

I don’t understand why Hollywood can’t come up with a decent story that hasn’t already been done.

This week’s remake disdain award goes to ‘Total Recall.’

First, I should point out, that the first ‘Total Recall’ – starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside – wasn’t exactly a classic.

Sure, people still quote lines from it – but that’s because the lines were over-the-top and the story was bad.

The 1990 film is one of those movies that is so cheesy it’s memorable. That being said, Ironside was all kinds of cool in the movie -- but he's always all kinds of cool.

Friday, the new version – starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel – hits the big screen. I actually predict it will hit with a big thud, but that’s just me.

Forget, for a second, that 'Total Recall' wasn't a great movie in its original form. The central themes of 'Total Recall' aren't so grand that they transcend decades. This is just more science fiction tripe.

Traditionally, August is the month where studios dump the films they think are going to fail. I think there’s a reason ‘Total Recall’ was dumped here: Executives knew it couldn’t compete with stronger summer fare.

In the grand scheme of things, I want to like ‘Total Recall’ because I happen to love both Farrell and Beckinsale as performers.

Despite a few duds, Farrell has proven himself to be an adept performer in movies like ‘Tigerland,’ ‘In Bruges,’ ‘Intermission’ and (yes I understand my own hypocrisy) last year’s remake of ‘Fright Night.’

Beckinsale is equally strong as a performer – although I have to admit a certain attachment to her ‘Underworld’ character.

Biel has never been a good performer and I doubt this will be her coming out party as a leading lady. She’s just not a good actress. I've never actually seen a good performance from her.

Not all remakes are bad – but for every good remake there are 10 bad ones. I just wish Hollywood would realize fans don’t need tired remakes and actually prefer fresh material.

Will I go see ‘Total Recall’? Probably. My love of Farrell and Beckinsale aside, there’s just not much else out there I’m interested in right now.

I think the better question is, though, am I expecting much from ‘Total Recall’? And that answer would be a resounding no.

1 Comments:

Blogger The Blissful Bride said...

I too am sick of remakes and unnecessary prequels...So much so that I did a rant on an IMDB thread. My suggestion was just remastering the originals and putting them back in theatres, but with the time elapsing, it may not hold any interest. Unnecessary prequels are in reference to the possibility of them doing a prequel to The Shining before Jack Torrance and his family arrived..that too is unnecessary, but in the correct hands could be interesting.

I hated Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. The backstory about his mother being a stripper and being bullied ruined the Michael Myers character for me. Its like he wanted to make you feel sorry for MM, which wasn't the intent of the original. Michael Myers was supposed to be pure evil. You could tell in his actions from the beginning there wasn't anything there. Dr. Loomis explained it best. He spent years trying to reach him and when he couldn't, he spent the rest of his time trying to keep Myers in the hospital.

August 3, 2012 at 9:17 AM 

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