Along with the rest of us, Contact Music is asking the deep question, "why exactly did we need a Carrie remake?" Well, for many of us who saw the movie, the necessity of the movie is set aside once the film begins to roll. It doesn't matter if the story is needed, we just want to know at that point if it is going to be a good story. I think they did good with it.
Rich Cline suggests that the "problem" with the new Carrie is Moretz. "She's simply too confident and glamorous to believe as someone so socially inept," Cline continues:
Thankfully, Moretz is a terrific actor, so she sharply catches Carrie's nervous energy and makes us believe that she's been pushed to the brink by both her mother and her classmates. Even so, she works out how to use her power far too quickly. Opposite her, Moore delivers a superbly detailed portrayal of a paranoid true believer.Check out the full article: www.contactmusic.com
As much as I loved the first flim, it is pretty dated ( Katt looked like he had more time spent on his perm than the rest of the cast combined). I don't think an updated version was unnecessary at all, and this one did fill in some gaps with the supporting characters (a lot of them in the DePalma film seemed like strawmen - IE the goofy bullies). I think they could have done without five minutes of the clique getting their nails done etc, but at least they didn't redo the sped-up tux argument.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of Moretz (I don't think her looks were a problem). She kind of came across as mentally ill rather than vulnerable in parts. I don't think she did a bad job as Carrie, but I think the film could have benefited from an older actress - one who has a better grasp of the sort of pain/fear the character was supposed to have..
I’ve never enjoyed direct remakes much because I’ve never understood the point. This is especially true of well-known and/or iconic films. I can’t comment on the Carrie remake itself, because I haven’t seen it. The thing is … I don’t feel I need to. In the end, pigs blood is still pigs blood. For my money, the actors, their performances and the nuances between films do not matter. Sure, over the years there are instances where there have been significant changes from the original to gain my interest—it’s hard not to seeing how congested the box office is these days—but this just seems like a redo with up-to-date cgi. My loss, I’m sure, but I can wait a few years until it hits AMC’s 30 days of Halloween or something similar.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the 1976 version is dated. CARRIE was a novel of the 1970s. The movie captured the zeitgeist of the era in which it was written. While I'm not in a position to judge the new film, having not seen it yet, I don't agree that a great film reflecting the teen culture of the 1970s based on a novel set in the 1970s is dated.
ReplyDeleteThe argument "the original film is dated" is NOT a valid argument for making a sequel. Carrie (1976) is not dated, it represents its era, yes, in the same way that King's novel does. To say the original Carrie is dated is to say that the novel needs to be rewritten as well.
ReplyDeleteIf Carrie was meant as a period piece, than yes, I'd agree with you. It wasn't, though. If anything, it was meant as a general cautionary tale. At its core it's about isolation and bullying - both of which have undergone changes since 1974/1976. If the core message is drowned out by the stylistic elements, then people won't relate to it. I'd argue that the Rage - it's sequal - was a failed attempt at updating it, and probably shouldn't have been made. The remake kept enough of the core narrative - what the story was actually about - intact, while it updated the setting.
ReplyDeleteI'd also argue that the book was far less dated than the film - King deliberately set the book several years in the future (he wrote it in 1974 and set it in 1979) in order to keep it from being tied to a specific period. There are still parts of the novel that are dated, though (some of the cultural references etc).
With that said, the whole point is to maintain the suspension of disbelief. If people get hung up on style then they're not going to buy the story.