Sunday, June 16, 2019

Quick Reviews: Cold Pursuit

I feel like I already saw this Movie!  Oh right- I saw the Original.  Is this mostly a retread?  Let's see...
A man named Coxman (changed from Dickman, because...reasons) loses his son to some Drug Dealers.  Since he's Liam Neeson, he's driven to seek revenge.

And yes, I will ignore the Elephant in the Room.  We all know what he said.
To be honest, there are NO structural changes at all from the Original.  To get a more detailed Plot, see that Review.

Here are the few differences.  For one, they make the 2nd target a guy who runs a Bridal Shop.  That's...helpful?
Since the Film was moved from Norway to Michigan, the rival gang changed from Serbians to Native Americans.
Another weird ethnic change in the form of the Hitman.  In the original, he's a Danish-Japanese man.  In this one, he's Black.

Again- just ignoring that Elephant in the Room.
There are a bunch of little changes- like giving the Policemen more Scenes-, but I'll end by highlighting a positive one.

In the original, the bad guy punches his ex-wife before telling her about the Son being kidnapped.  In this one, she ducks his punch and grabs him, well, where it counts...and then he tells her.  Nice change.

To find out the rest, watch this version (or either).
If you were expecting more than just a minorly-tweaked Remake, think again.  To be fair, the original Film worked and didn't really *need* many changes.  I just still don't like when Remakes do so little.  Imagine, for instance, waiting forty years for a new Carrie and...it's just the same with CGI added.  In this case, the additions aren't as egregious to many as CGI is, but they have the opposite problem.  So little has changed that I just don't really see the point.  Did we need Liam Neeson and other Actors swapped out in the Roles?  Everyone in the original was good, so it's not like doing a nearly-shot-for-shot version of The Room with Shailene Woodley as Lisa and Theo James as Johnny.  Do they think that we can't relate to Films set somewhere else?  Cold Pursuit is still a good Film.  It already was a good Film, so that's no change.  For me, it's just not quite as good as In Order of Disappearance.  I like Neeson, but Skarsgard really fits the role better.  Here's another little change to cover as I wrap things up.  In the original, the Wife is barely in the Film.  In the new one, she's barely in it...but now she's Laura Dern.
A good Film that isn't ruined by the changes in locale or casting.  To be honest, I just don't think that Liam Neeson pulls off the tone right, making this halfway a usual Film of his and halfway what it should be.

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