Remakes/Reboots and my destroyed youth
Right off the bat it's probably only fair that I explain that I'm nearly the big four zero in age. I'm a father now and I should probably be thinking about pension plans and which wine tastes better with fish at the next dinner party. They say staying in, is the new going out at my age and to a certain degree, I fully endorse that statement. However, I do find that whilst my days of three am drinking are now a thing of the past, I do still enjoy a trip to the cinema and this is why I'm writing this.
I consider myself very lucky. I grew up in the age of of video rental shops, and I'm talking proper video shops. Before the chains and franchises. Where there were one or two (three if you were lucky) copies of a film and you had to reserve it weeks in advance. The big titles always required this, but I'm sure I'm not alone in having a note from your parents that allowed you to rent an 18 rated action fest, even though you were woefully short of the required age. It was a great time. We had the Die Hards, the Lethal Weapons, Sly and Arnie ruled supreme. Of course there were outside favourites that came your way too. Robocop and Roadhouse being two of my favourites.
And with this in mind, I was entangled in a mixture of joy and horror by the idea when Hollywood decided to remake some of these (in my mind) classic titles. I'm not gonna touch upon the Robocop remake as it has already been retroactively reviewed on this page by a good friend of mine, so I will jump straight to Roadhouse. This remake will star UFC female champion Rhonda Rousey. A good idea in essence and it seems to be Hollywood's latest take on remakes/reboots to put a female in the lead, as the Ghostbusters franchise has also chosen this route. I'm not going to pass comment on that fact. So many people seem to disagree, but if I'm honest I don't think it matters. When I see a remake/reboot is on the cards, my first thought is not what sex the lead is, it's more how it will fail to stack up against the original. Many may say I'm perhaps a little pessimistic, but honestly now, when reviewing any of the remakes over the last few years, could anybody really argue with me? I'm sure there's probably an example of one being better than the original, but I'm damn sure I've not seen it!
Why is this? Have writers and directors gone into a downward spiral over the last few years? When watching some of the fantastic television series that have been made in the last decade, you'd have to say that this is not the case surely? So what's the problem? Well straight away Hollywood seems to think that PG/12 ratings are the way ahead. I'll go out on a limb here. ...They're not!
These films carrying the titles of old favourites should be aimed at my age group and not a child who is unaware of the original. Damn! I said I wasn't going to mention the Robocop remake but what the hell! Robocop is an R/18rated film. It is not a film to be made to cater to a family audience! Yes I know this contradicts my initial opening paragraph, but I never contemplated being able to see the original in a cinema and Hollywood never did either. So if you need to make a remake of Robocop, make it worthy of the original. Many people in my age group will go the cinema screenings. I did in fact and do you know what? I didn't see any teenagers there anyway! However we now live in age where you can order/download a film in seconds. So with the right circumstances and some understanding parents the teenage boys of today would still see it anyway, much like I did after my trip to the video shop and the studios would still make the money!
My next take on remakes is pretty simple. If you are a Hollywood producer that gets the rights to a remake, then why tie yourself to the title? You have the idea, the story and the structure, so why put yourself in the position where it needs to be judged against the original. In short, call it something else and let the film be judged on its on merits? The lead can have a different name and still find themselves faced with the same circumstances.
This has been done in the past. Fast and Furious is essentially Point Break with shiny cars instead of surfboards. Speed is essentially Die Hard on a bus rather than a building. So why can't the Roadhouse remake be called something different? Why can't the Big Trouble in little China remake starring the Rock be carry a different title? Let's make films that have a winning formula and yet have the balls to expect them to actually be good and not bank on nostalgia? Better still, let's show some respect for the intelligence of the viewer. If you make them a milder rating and the story suffers as a result, then that's your lookout Hollywood. I, along with millions of others won't be there judging them in the same way, so it won't matter.
This does work. It's been proven. Olympus has Fallen was essentially Die Hard in the Whitehouse but it didn't carry the almost instant judgment of being a remake/reboot, even though the storyline carries the same basic formula. I knew it. You knew it. Everybody did but, I didn't walk out of seeing it thinking that Butler was not as good a Willis as McClain, or wishing that the Alan Rickman cameo had been given more screen time. Ok, I'm being sarcastic but how often do you find yourself grinding your teeth at such nonsense when watching a remake? Another telling factor is that this film has made enough money and garnered enough positive reviews to get a sequel. Don't get me wrong. I liked it but it wasn't a patch on the goings on at Nakotomi Plaza, but ask yourself. How often does that happen with remakes? Usually with a remake, I find myself detesting the film.
Want to look at doing a direct remake? Payback starring Mel Gibson is a good example. It was several years before I found out it was the remake/reimagining of the 1967 noir classic Point Blank starring Lee Marvin. I'm not going to be drawn on which film was better, because I never really had to consider that fact when I watched Mr Gibson shooting people, oh and by the way it carried an 18 rating in the UK and made decent money.
The Total Recall remake had no real bearing on the original, so why set it up with the same title? It could've been Bourne type movie set in the future. I'm sure that within minutes a similar type of title could've have been workshopped in a conference room somewhere sunny and none of us would've been none the wiser.
Think I'm crazy? Well let's see how good the Point Break remake turns out to be and then see how many sequels it spawns, then consider that Fast and Furious 8 will come out the following year.
I'll leave you with that thought.
