By MATT MANCUSO
In recent years, Hollywood has been notorious for drudging up old movie properties in order to gain, what many consider to be, a quick buck. Critics point to films like “Robocop,” “Carrie,” Stephen King’s “IT”, “The Mummy,” and many more as examples of films that hope to cash in on fan nostalgia. In fact, there are over 100 upcoming remakes in the works.
Disney is a massive corporation that has been at the forefront of entertainment news recently. In addition to their planned remake of “Aladdin,” Disney has announced a live-action remake of “The Lion King.” The movie will take advantage of modern technology to deliver an experience that is vastly different to that found in the original film, but with a story that will most likely remain faithful to the original work. Many fans are conflicted about the “Lion King” remake. Despite a strong cast set to headline the movie, many feel that it is an unnecessary cash grab on a timeless piece.
Moviegoers wonder when Hollywood will stop looking back on the past in order to make a profit.
“I’ve only seen one remake that I can remember.. The fatally flawed Nightmare on Elm Street, which was a bore despite Jackie Earle Haley,” said long-time film buff Ryan Rubiano, 23. “This is for the simple reason that I’ve been warned against watching most of them by friends and other moviegoers. Their main complaint seems to be that these new films fail to capture the essence or the ‘magic’ of the original, and that new CGI seems to ruin old movies.”
Relying On CGI
An over-reliance on computer graphics is a common complaint in modern cinema, with many citing it as looking fake, unconvincing, or downright unrealistic. The technology has gotten stronger over the years since the shift from practical effects to CGI, but there are still certain new movies that blunder in delivering a convincing image to the viewer.
A popular example of imperfect CGI is found in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” in which a villain known as Grand Moff Tarkin (originally played by Peter Cushing) was recreated using computer graphics for the new film, due to Cushing’s passing in 1994. Viewers found the result less than satisfying, stating that the updated Grand Moff Tarkin gave them a feeling of ‘uncanny valley.’ This is a phenomenon in which a humanoid figure looks strangely familiar to a person, but that figure does not match up 100 percent with how the person expected them to appear. This results in feelings of discomfort and utter uncertainty, something which “Rogue One” was certainly not going for. To clarify, “Rogue One” is not a remake of a prior film in the “Star Wars” franchise, but it elicits feelings that modern remakes utilizing CGI have a problem with today.
“People flock in droves to see them [remakes] in the faint hope that they will recapture the magical feeling they had when they first saw them, perhaps as kids, and they think that a lot of CGI will help to recreate that,” Rubiano said. ” These remakes don’t work at all. The quality just doesn’t match the originals for them and all of the CG eye candy is stuff they’ve already seen before.”
Sources:
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/reboots/248590/126-movie-remakes-and-reboots-currently-in-the-works
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beyonce-cast-as-nala-in-disneys-new-lion-king-remake-w510807
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/rogue-one-grand-moff-tarkins-familiar-face-isnt-familiar-957178
I think the strongest part of this article is how well you explain it to people who may not have background knowledge on the topic. Instead of just writing it for an audience of film buffs, you explain your examples and include an image that makes it easy for anyone to understand. However, it also would have been interesting to include an argument from the movie makers’ side to as to why they have so many remakes planned rather than original films.