Remake This?: The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

 After covering a 1950s Classic, let me cover the Remake of a DIFFERENT 1950s Classic!

This is The Day the Earth Stood Still, the 2008 Remake by Fox to be exact.
Did this feel need a Remake?

To be fair, CGI (and computers as we know them) didn't exist when that Film was made.  I can see the appeal to a modern Director.

That's not addressing the idea that you SHOULD Remake it, of course.
If you are going to remake any 1950s Sci-Fi Film, it should be The Giant Claw- it needs one!

If you don't know, the Plot involves an alien ship, a giant robot and a messenger.  
Does this one improve things and/or do its own thing?

To find out, Klaatu barada nikto on...

After a strange Opening Scene involving a man (Keanu Reeves) finding a glowing thing in the snow, we meet out Heroine.

Jennifer Connely plays a Professor/Researcher living in Washington D.C.

Insert Topical Joke about Trump Invasion of DC here.

It is here that we meet the Film's villain- at least according to 9 out of 10 IMDB Reviews.

Jaden Smith plays her Stepson, so presumably she was married to Will (who did turn down the Reeves role here).

Can I make it head canon that he's actually Will Smith from Independence Day?

She's suddenly pulled into a Government mission and placed on a helicopter full of other experts/scientists/people.

What are they there to deal with?

A glowing space ball- naturally!

They think it might be a Meteor, but then it slows down naturally, which is not a thing that they do.

It lands in Central Park and floats there as the military and people (Scientist in Hazmat suits, but nobody else!) surround it.

The Government folks really freak out when GORT appears.

In this version, he's a 28-foot robot that was clearly the inspiration for the 2014 version of the Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

He keeps the military guys at bay, but...

Connelly runs across a glowing guy near the orb...but he got shot.

They take it/him to a Doctor, who reveals a human body underneath the glowing flesh sac (I hope you don't eat while you read this).

It turns into Reeves (since I guess the Aliens copied him from earlier) and he manages to escape the facility, showing off vague, Plot-driven powers in the process.

He ends up with Connelly, who agrees to take him places while things go down.

She also tries to convince that humanity should be spared, as the Aliens are going to wipe us out to save the Planet.

The Military take GORT (which is namedropped only once) into a base, but it is still clearly in control.

It breaks out and destroys the facility by turning into millions (if not billions) of nanite bugs!

This likely inspired a DIFFERENT Film in which Megatron can turn into a swarm of nanites.

Connelly continues to try and get Reeves to agree that humanity needs saving.

It doesn't help her case that she drags Jaden along with them!

Eventually, however, Reeves sees that humanity is special, braves the nanite swam cloud and stops it, saving the World and leaving forever (or until a possible Sequel that doesn't exist).

A Film with big heart, big goals and clearly quite big budget.
They spent $80 million on this (not adjusted for inflation) and it shows.

The Film is chock full of CGI, explosions and the like.

The Film does try to really have a deeper message- humanity can better itself.

This comes between exploding drones, firefights and light shows, mind you.

Director Scott Derickson- of Dr. Strange fame- does a good job here honestly.  The Film just has so much going on and it is not always connected.

I'm very glad that Reeves took another role from Will Smith (he turned down The Matrix) as his style of Acting really works for the slow and gradual changes his character goes through.

Everyone here is really trying, even a surprising performance by John Cleese in a serious role!  

I do feel a bit bad picking on a kid Actor (even if it is Jaden Smith), but the Film HINGES upon you caring about him and how his relationship growth with Connelly affects the Plot.

He's...not good, so try to power through the Film around him.
He's also a Narc, so...

Next up, I happened to buy a Ninja Turtles Movie Set right before the Anniversary.  Let's just jump right into the Films, shall we?  Stay tuned...

Is It Bad?: The Incredible Hulk (2008)

 Iron Man was a revelation.

Thor and Captain America put the MCU into motion.

The Incredible Hulk...came out in 2008 and didn't affect all that much.

Mind you, the Film rights were tied up with Universal, so things were complicated- and that is before Disney bought Marvel.

Simply put, they could use him in team-ups and group Films, but no Sequel for you!

With billions in Box Office and at least a dozen more Films coming down the pipeline, let's look at the SECOND MCU Film and figure out if it is bad.

Pro: The Film feels like an extension of the original '70s TV Show.  It has Banner on the run, finding a cure and trying to help people.

Con: Is it perhaps a bit too safe?  Maybe don't go full-on crazy like Ang Lee, but...

Pro: Edward Norton is a really good Bruce Banner.
Con: Edward Norton is apparently lots of trouble, rewrites all of his Film Scripts without anyone asking him to and then gets mad if he doesn't get credit.

Pro: This Hulk design is great.  No disrespect to the classic MCU one- which is also great- but this one feels very visceral.

It is based on Dale Keown's version and I love it.

Pro: Having Betty Ross in the tale really helps to anchor the Story and Banner in a good way.

She's a reminder of his past mistakes and someone who pushes him to make future improvements.
I have to believe that if she was able to be in more MCU Films until now, things could have been even better.

Pro: The origin of this Hulk is tied to the Super Soldier Program, an idea that came from The Ultimates version.
Thankfully, this one is not a cannibal.

Con: Ultimates Captain America is awful.  I'm glad that they didn't adapt him into the MCU.

Pro: Having his future rival- Abomination- get an Arc in the Film leading up to the big battle is a good call.  Plus, it gives us more Tim Roth.

You all slept on She-Hulk and missed him.  Your loss.

Pro: The Film parallels Bruce nicely with different Scientists/Experts in the Film.

Doc Samson- who doesn't get powers and is mostly cut out of the final version- is too cautious and ceding to authority.

Doctor Samuel Sterns- who went into MCU limbo after this Film until recently- is too chaotic, too willing to take risks and respects no authority- even that of Science!

Con: Due to the inability to make a second Hulk Film, he was written out in a tie-in Comic.  Sigh.

Pro: The Film builds nicely to a Hulk vs. Abomination battle.  It is still great all of these years later.

Some of the CGI is, well, obviously CGI, but it is still quite great.

Pro: The Film sets up a nice place for Banner, which is mostly followed up on in The Avengers.

Con: Does that Film contradict this one?  A little bit.

What Is Good?

The Plot is really good, with Character Arcs for just about everyone in the Film.  Bruce grows and changes, as do Betty and the man who would be Abomination.

Even General Ross gets one- even if he won't admit it!

The Action is great.  They build up the Hulk reveal nicely and it looks great.  The actions feel visceral too.

If you can look at this as something that doesn't contradict the MCU, but also doesn't exactly add a ton to it, it fits in pretty well into the whole structure.  Spare me the old 'the Timeline doesn't make sense' argument- please.

What Is Bad?

Some of the CGI- mostly the use of full Scene Replacements- stand out.  It is like watching a Video Game Cutscene.  It might be a good one- let's say a high-end PS4 one- but your eyes tell you that something is off.

As noted, its MCU connection is a bit wonky (so far).  That wasn't a big deal in 2008, but it stands out here.

Certain Characters and Plot Points get a bit short-changed as well, thanks to many Cuts (there are over a dozen or so Deleted/Extended Scenes- which is a lot!) likely due to make the Film breezier.

So...

Is It Bad?

No.

While it struggles to stand out against later Films like The Avengers, Iron Man 3 or The Guardians of the Galaxy, the Film is not a 'black mark' on the Franchise.

It just struggled to tie things into the main Timeline and kind of got pushed away...until now (he says optimistically).

A Film that was kind of ignored for quite a while, in spite of the MCU's success.  It is long overdue for a reevaluation.

Remake This!: The Eye (2008)

 Here's a rare case for you- I'm watching A SECOND Remake of the Film without seeing the original Film.

This is The Eye, the 2008 Remake of the Chinese Film of the same name (just in Chinese).  Many years ago, I stumbled across the Bollywood Remake and it sure...exists.

The Plot involves a young woman who gets a corneal transplant to restore her sight.  Yes, she gets new eyes (essentially), but it is still called The Eye.  I guess it is less relatable if she's a Pirate with an eye patch.

This leads to her seeing strange stuff and driving her a little bit crazy.  Is there more going on though?

To find out, read on...

A blind woman- Jessica Alba- is doing pretty well for herself.
She has a good relationship with her Sister (Parker Posey) and is a Concert Violinist.

She's also about to get a corneal transplant, restoring her eyesight that was lost when she was 5.

After surgery, she's greeted by a young girl deep in Chemotherapy.  Is that....Chloe-Grace Moretz?!?

Yes, it is and, according to reports, she actually shaved her head for this role.
A pretty bold thing to do for an 11-year-old Actress, no?

She gets her eyesight back, although it will take time for her body to adjust to the new sensations.

While in the Hospital, she sees dark shadows (not the vampire kind) walking with the old woman sharing her room.

The next morning, she learns that said woman died that night!

She goes home, but the strange sights don't stop there.

She sees a kid in a poncho who will only repeat the same phrase over and over again!

She's troubled the visions and has to leave her place.

She calls the Doctor who's been helping her adjust and he meets her at the Chinese Restaurant...only to find that it is a burned-out wreck.

The whole place burned up last week and... she just kind of walked in.
Alright then!

This is disrupting her life completely, from the visions she can't stop to the distractions this al is causing her.

She's a real mess.

She injures herself on some glass (been there!) and ends up back at the Hospital.  

She meets Moretz again...and then sees her spirit leave with the same black shadows!

Back home, she sees more strange things and realizes that the kid from earlier is the ghost of a neighbor woman.
Enjoy the only Asian Character of note in this Remake of a Chinese Film.

Oh and she finally realizes that the eyes' original owner is trying to make contact.

The Doctor finally relents and tells her who the donor was.

We find out that she could see death before it came for people (aka the Shadows) and tried to save people at a Factory from a fire.

When they died, she was labeled a Witch and driven to suicide.

She sees the shadows near the donor's Mother, but is too late to save her.

The duo are stopped at the Border Crossing and Alba realizes that what she saw wasn't a vision of the past- it was a warning of the future.

She scares enough people away in time before a big explosion would have killed them all.

In spite of the Final Destination reference they include here, Death doesn't come for her.

Instead, she gets re-blinded by flying glass and is happy.  The End.

A better Film than I was expecting.  That said, this is much less of a Horror Film than I think that people may be expecting.

For all of the flack she gets (earned or not), Alba put lots of work into this one behind-the-scenes.  She learned to play the violin (at least well enough to look legit) and spent time with people to train herself how to act blind.

Again- you may still not like her Acting, but you should at least respect the hustle.

The Film walks this odd line between being a Character Drama, a Horror Film and a Psychological Thriller.  Before the facts come out, she might just be crazy.  This could work, to be fair, if you're not familiar with the source material.

The freaky visuals do work nicely, and I do appreciate the effort made to flesh out all of the Characters- at least all of the ones who appear more than once.  Everyone feels real.

As far as Remakes go, it is fine.  Like I said, I appreciate the work put into it.  Ultimately, the 'Ooh, scary thing' kind of Films aren't really my thing (hence my feelings towards J and K-Horror in general).

Speaking of which, I can't decide on which Stinger to use.  Is it the overly long credit given to the original Film...

...or this bit they blatantly cribbed from Daredevil, where she stops a guy (not Stan Lee though) from walking in front of a bus.

Next up, I take a Facebook suggestion and look at a famous TV Mini-Series.  With it celebrating a 30th Anniversary this year, the time to take a stand is now.  See you then...