Movie Remakes: Creative New Spins or Out of Ideas?

This past few years have brought on a huge amount of movie remakes. Some good, most not so good. What's the deal? Is Hollywood running out of ideas, or are people lending a unique perspective to old favorites?

Rear Window became Disturbia. Halloween was remade by Rob Zombie. Some other recent remakes have included The Hitcher, The Hills Have Eyes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and more. Where is the creative juices that used to flow through Hollywood? I'm here to talk (or debate) about the actual creative value of some Hollywood remakes.

In 2005, I was barraged with images of a Michael Jackson like Johnny Depp replacing my image of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. I love Johnny Depp as a creative talent (and also as great to look at it), but this movie almost completely ruined him for me. While I appreciate bringing your own aspects to a character, Willy Wonka was just creepy. Gene Wilder made him an eccentric, yet loveable man in the original. I can't even begin to describe what Johnny Depp did to the character wthout possibly having nightmares. As a general rule, I usually love Tim Burton movies. I did appreciate the atmosphere that was attempted at in the movie. The oompa loompahs creeped me out. I hope the studios at least got a discount on the mystic tan service. On to my point, there was no creative difference in this. It stuck strictly to the story. The one thing that might have saved this movie for me would be to have it end where the sequel to the book (Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator) would begin. I can't imagine a better person to direct that imagination explosion than Tim Burton.

I'm going to branch out here for a moment and touch on a remake of a foreign film, because I think someone needs to say something about it. In 2002, my husband nagged me into watching a remake of Ringu, The Ring. I doubt many people will have actually seen the original, but I am going to rant anyways. How a great horror movie like this got turned into a mess about a little girl running horses off a cliff is beyond me. I wasn't even remotely scared by the US version. I was just disappointed. And, as far as I can tell, there really was no need to remake it. The original was made in 1998, and there were no amazing special effects that would have warranted a better version of the story.

Let's now discuss the worst remake I have seen in years, Psycho. WHY? I couldn't understand why you would remake a movie in a semi-modern setting, but still attempt to make it look like it was made in the 60's like the original. I will give Vince Vaughn credit for being somewhat creepy, but he is no Anthony Perkins. I don't think he has the right mental tick to play that sort of character. But bravo for making a color version, I guess.

On to the finale! The whole inspiration of this post was because I read today that Tim Burton is making a 3-D movie based on Alice in Wonderland. It will include live-action and performance-capture (always a great combo, right?), and will start shooting early next year. My hope is that he stays true to the book, and does not try to intertwine both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass, as so many others have done. I also feel that him teaming up with Disney will hinder him creatively a bit, and tone down what could be a great version of Alice. I could easily see Helena Bonham Carter as either the Queen of Hearts or maybe even a dark version of the Chesire Cat. Only time will tell, so keep your fingers crossed for good things, and for good remakes.