Remakes That Dont Suck Night

 

 

 

 

Tonight's marathon is about defying the odds about remakes. The general consensus on them is they just quite simply aren't good nor can recapture the magic of the original films. While that may be true most of the time, that doesn't apply to all of them. There are some remakes that have beaten the odds and managed to be pretty solid films, showing that anything's possible. Some of those great remakes are in tonight's lineup. We have on our menu for this evening:

             True Grit 2010, The Great Gatsby 2013,The Departed 2006, and Cape Fear 1991

This marathon is living proof that remakes can be more than just good movies, but GREAT ones. An excellent remake can be done if the right people get behind it such as good writers, directors, and actors who can take the original characters and run off with them to make their own interpretations. A good remake is one that does not hide in the shadow of the original film but stands beside it and makes its own stamp in movie history. A moviegoer should be able to choose between the original or the remake to watch as a form of tough decision rather than just automatically picking the originals. If the logic that only the originals are good movies are true, then none of these movies would be considered high quality films.

The first movie to break the trend of remakes being terrible movies is the Coen Brothers' True Grit. The original film came out in 1969 starring John Wayne in contrast to this one starring Jeff Bridges. The storyline is about a tough U.S Marshal played by Bridges who ends up helping a stubborn young girl track down the man who killed her father. The plot is the same as the original film but the eras in which they were made changed. The remake gets a royal treatment and lives up to the quality of the original while also surprising audiences.

The next remake that follows this treatment is The Great Gatsby, not only a piece of English literature but also remakes the mediocre 1974 first attempt starring Robert Redford. The 2013 version stars Leonardo Dicaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan, with the plot centering around a Midwestern war veteran who finds himself drawn to the past and the lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor. Where the original Gatsby film failed in it's attempt to bring such a flashy and complex world to the big screen, Dicaprio's version successfully projects this on film. This version feels more grand, epic, and ultimately tragic for those who knows how the story ends. The film even managed to garner academy award nominations for costume and art-set decoration. Along with the praise of the technological aspect of the film, the acting by the three leads is strong and makes the characters believable.

The third film of this marathon is The Departed, the 2006 American remake of Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs. The plot is the same involving an undercover state cop who infiltrates an Irish gang and a mole in the police force who works for the same mob race to track down and identify each other before their exposure to the enemy, after both sides realizing they have a rat. The Hong Kong version of The Departed is a great film but the American one boasts a remarkable ensemble cast of Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Anthony Anderson, Alec Baldwin, and Ray Winstone. This version is directed by Martin Scorsesse who's also known for his mobster crime drama epics Goodfellas and Casino. The Departed is a great film that is separated from Infernal Affairs because of it's wide American appeal with the all star cast and it's gritty feel.

The final film of the night is Martin Scorsesse's Cape Fear, a 1990's remake of the 1962 thriller starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. Compared to that version, which was a great thriller for it's time, the remake packs an emotional punch with a stellar cast including Robert Deniro, Nick Nolte, Juliette Lewis, Jessica Lange and Jon Don Baker. Two of the films stars, Deniro and Lewis, received Oscar noms for their acting performances. The plot of Cape Fear remains the same as the original film in which a convicted rapist is released from prison after serving a 14 year sentence, and chooses to stalk his defending lawyer and his family. The twist is his lawyer threw evidence away that could've released Cady from serving his sentence, and Cady is vengeful for him doing that. Cape Fear remains one of Deniro and Scorsesse's best work in their respective careers.

What tonight's marathon proves is that not all remakes suck, but can be great films if they are handled with great care. Like what Professor X said in XMEN 2000:

"Were not what you think, not all of us."

Same applies for remakes.