The One and Only wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:12 pm
Vakanai wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:16 pm
Personally I'm not against remaking the original Godzilla, but...more interesting to me than remaking the film is revisiting it. I'm thinking of a different plot with different characters who just happen to take place during the events of the first movie. A side story that doesn't try to compete or contradict the original.
Like the first issue of IDW, and James Stoke's
GODZILLA:The Half-Century War which dealt with a tank commander, and his best bud encountering the Big-G when the beast first hit Tokyo in 1954. Excellent book by the way.
CANNONBALL RUN . A franchise I thought could be rebooted, relaunched, and had read once or twice was being looked to be remade a few years back by director Guy Ritche, with George Clooney starring. Watching the fourth entry to
The Fast & The Furious franchise a few years ago, and the seemingly unstoppable nature of the series. I didn't think it was too far out there that a-udiences would be game for a more comedic take on illegal street racing with a whole ensemble cast of comedic talent. Seth Rogan. Adam Sandler. Johnny Knoxville. Bradley Cooper. Jeff Galifinkis. Paul Rudd. And other fan favorites.
There's also the Dark Horse comic that did a similar thing as a backstory for their King of the Monsters comic.
Not that I wouldn't mind a properly done remake. It would simply feel superfluous like every other remake if it wasn't another adaptation of the original novel, like with Mothra or the Mysterians. Even then, it would feel redundant and be constantly compared to the original.
Guess that's why I liked Maleficent and Cruella. Both are Elseworlds that take the story different from the canon in far more interesting ways than the Last Airbenderization of The Lion King or Aladdin [never seen this, but the footage itself made it look like a joke.] While the former has mediocre CGI that looks like some generic over-processed Photoshop Magazine cover and has fairies that delve far too much into the uncanny valley, it was more of a character driven flick that Jolie aced. On the other hand, Cruella basically improved on that formula too well, meaning there can't really be a sequel unless Roger is the villain and Cruella isn't some dog killer. Practically an example of diminishing returns if I've ever seen one.
Here's the movies I'd choose for a remake/reboot:
1.Winchester [2018] This movie was an unintentional comedy for me. Sorry for laughing hysterically at every absurdity or when it literally turned into a gun-fu Bleach knockoff set in the early 20th century. This movie has great potential to be a terrifying horror flick as long as it is a psychological horror This would crib somewhat from the Haunted Mansion as that cribbed from the house that inspired this movie. There's no literal ghosts but the ones people allow to plague them and this obsession with this regret causes the tragic series of events to occur.
2. Ghost in the Shell. More of a re-filmed extended cut that makes it similar to Stand Alone Complex, while an ensemble of celebrities portray Section 9, namely the Major. In a world where people can change every aspect of themselves, Zoe Saldana, Rinko Kikuchi and Scarlett Johannsen all portray the Major as the Shells are basically another way to break into enemy lines and do their intelligence work. It's a way of showing how the Major has an identity crisis she hardly addresses from switching her bodies so often, being the woman she is. The director Rupert Sanders said this was the case in an interview, but it needed to fully depicted in the film itself instead of as damage control. Also, Yoko Kanno's soundtrack and Origa are joined with the likes of Bjork and Daft Punk in the film's soundtrack.
3. The Last Airbender. The issues are basically in pacing and in a script, besides the casting nonsense. Split in two movies per "book" and streamline the narratives. The Earthbender Prison story is merged with Kyoshi Island's. The Warriors are hesitant to fight the Fire Nation due to not wanting to endanger their island and its people to the War and the prison is at sea. They're convinced to join the war and help aid the Earthbenders with Sokka's machinations by having them bend coal. From then on, they venture, get a Waterbending scroll from pirates until the Gaang is mostly struck with illness. Zuko's defeat isn't unnoticed by Zhao and the two engage in an Agni Kai, with Zuko winning. Iroh of course intervenes when Zhao launches a burst of flames from his right fist and they depart for Roku's island, using the headway from Zuko's victory to race there before Zhao. After Aang meets Roku, he finds himself at the mercy of Zhao. The climax is of course, The Blue Spirit. The Blue Spirit frees Aang and is eventually discovered by Aang to be Zuko. The movie ends at this point as Aang flees right back to his friends wishing they could be friends. Zhao discovers that Zuko is possibly the Blue Spirit and has him assassinated through Combustion Man. Part 2 deals with the Northern Air Temple,elements of the Bandit episode, Bato, the Waterbending Master and the Siege of the North. Meaning, the Kyoshi Warriors follow the Gaang to the Northern Water Tribe instead of disappearing into the ether and while the sky goes red, they and Sokka are the only thing standing in the Fire Nation's way until Aang merges with the Ocean Spirit. The Kyoshi Warriors head back home and Pakku gives Katara water from the Spirit Oasis.
4. Halloween [2007] My main issues with this remake is it turns into revenge porn ,makes most of his kills pricks and jerks, and relies far too much on unsympathetic stereotypes of working class people. Michael Myers comes from a happy family that lives on the other side of the tracks. It's discovered that Dr. Loomis is an abusive fraud that wants to take advantage of Laurie in the same way to bolster his book sales and fame, and by that film's end, is arrested and thrown into prison while Laurie goes to her brother's grave, leaving flowers for their parents before she leaves with her infant daughter far away from Haddonfield.
5. Fantasy Island. Make it feel like an earnest adaptation of the original series that isn't some horror flick in any way, because there's too much cynicism as it is. At most, it could be as stylistic as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [2005].
6. Dragon Ball Evolution. An action-comedy, it's basically a straight live action adaptation of "Path to Power" with Wuxia elements while taking from the Red Ribbon arc. Bulma is 20 and Goku is 10. Roshi's behavior ,though drastically toned down, is explained as a result of trauma not dealt with turning into a desire for hedonism and escape from the horrors of the outside world. He's a hermit until he's forced back into it. As a result, his character develops into his non-perverted version in Super. He's basically like Haymitch. The Red Ribbons,led by Pilaf, feature as the antagonists. Goku turns into Oozaru and has his tail cut off.
7. Death Note. Just rip off the 2006 live action film from Japan and make it a period film set in that era. Why try to modernize it or reinvent the wheel?
8. Mulan. Make it a Wuxia-styled trilogy where she's an ordinary girl against uneven odds and there's no magic that creates plotholes. It borrows substantially from the original Disney film for Western audiences, including the characters, but uses the war drama evident in other adaptations to show Mulan's rise as a hero of her people. If China can love Kung Fu Panda, they'd love this redo over the pandering version that turned Mulan into a super-powered witch-jedi, because we all know that some young woman couldn't possibly fight on her own merits at all, right?
9. The Dragon Tattoo series. Sony really screwed this one over by having the Fincher adaptation thrown near Christmas 2011 and barely advertised at all, while the reboot seems like an utter joke. Sure, it's been ten years, but an adaptation of the second book with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara set a decade instead of right after the first might make it better. Daniel Craig's popular from the Bond series and it's stupid from a business perspective not to take advantage of that fame. The third could be filmed back to back with the second, and maybe do a reboot of the Spider Web rewritten consistently with the same tone as the previous films.