Enough of the bloody remakes!
I love watching movies.
But what is with the bloody remakes?? Lately, it seems like you cannot step into a cinema without having at least one remake screening. My personal peeve is remaking movies from their original and oftimes, superior incarnations. Look at films such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Infernal Affairs, Fright Night, Conan the Barbarian and even The Ring. I can see the commercial appeal but why re-visit these films with something that was tweaked or worse, explained to death?
Infernal Affairs is one such example. The original left audiences on a knife-edge, wondering what is going to happen next? Who is on which side? What the hell is happening! GAHHHH!!! When I saw The Departed, it failed to invoke any sense of excitement. Worse, I wasn't compelled to watch the movie until it almost ended it's run in the cinemas. When I finally caught it, I was left with a feeling of, ooookkkaayyy so they translated it more for American audiences. The director is one of my favorites, the actors were fantastic but where is the heightened sense of suspense and chaos?
And did you catch the brutal The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Niels Arden Oplev? Even though the David Fincher version focused more on the characters over the story, he lost the essence of the book. It's social and political ramifications were absent and audiences are just subject to a basic whodunit instead of a more complex and in-depth story. Oh and please don't get me started on The Ring or even Shutter - where was the shocker at the end? There isn't any because we've seen it all before. Also, must film-makers Americanize everything? How can Americans be more globalized when filmmakers constantly have to remake films for them? Are American audiences so poorly educated that they do not understand subtleties or subtext? That they cannot step outside of their comfort zone to experience stories in their original incarnations?
It's ironic how audiences in Asia or Europe can watch and relate to different films but American audiences cannot. I used to really love going to the movies because I can lose myself in the different worlds and sometimes there is that great element of surprise at the end. But the remakes are making me stay away.
Maybe filmmakers have to re-look at the material they are working with. Are remakes making more money or simply more tiresome? Are film directors so tapped out that they'd rehash previous works over creating something new? There is still a wealth of unexplored material out there, I say make it work with fresh materials and stop remaking films! We, the discerning film-goers deserve better!
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