I have the original on VHS and I having been wanting to watch this for so long that I finally did. I have never seen the movie in theater or with friends, mind you, but I knew that there was an interaction between the movie and the viewers when done with a group. It still didn't prepare me for how this movie was set up....
[SPOILERS: I was disappointed for the most part but I will still give you a review!]
Trailer
Cast
Ivy Levan The Usherette
Victoria Justice Janet Weiss
Staz Nair Rocky
Christina Milian Magenta
Tim Curry The Criminologist - An Expert
Adam Lambert Eddie
Reeve Carney Riff Raff
Annaleigh Ashford Columbia
Ryan McCartan Brad Majors
Ben Vereen Dr. Scott
Laverne Cox Dr. Frank-N-Furter
Plot
Brad and his newly engaged fiancee Janet are going to visit their former professor Dr. Scott to tell him the news about their engagement. On the way, the car breaks down and the couple decides to walk through the forest (while it is raining) to a castle nearby. They arrive at the castle to find a group of people that are really odd, in most standards: the transgender Dr. Frank-n-furter, the help Magenta and Riff Raff, the dancer Columbia, the "Frankenstein" experiment Rocky, and the bike rider Eddie. How can these two young people stay sane while dealing with the strange group? Will they get help? Will they ever be able to leave and go home? If so, will they ever have a normal life again?
Rating Criteria
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around. – characters, music, theme, story line, etc.
3/5 - I have never been to a viewing of the original movie so this was a bit different. First off, this is definitely a more "pop" version of the movie: the theatre gal (the Usherette) is a booby chick shaking her goods during the whole opening scene, the butler Riff Raff comes off strange when he is trying to be creepy, etc.
The movie was a movie inside of a movie, the viewer being part of the audience inside of the movie and watching the movie with them [though obviously you are actually watching a movie of the fans watching the movie, for parts]. Most of the time, you are just watching the movie. Other times, however, the focus turns away from the movie to the audience. This was very distracting and, in my opinion, a bit rude on the part of the movie makers. Of course, it is a nod to the fans of the original Rocky Horror movie that created this interaction between them and the movie but at the same time this was NOT what I expected. Maybe I should have looked deeper into the trailer? In retrospect, I don't know if this is better or worse than watching the silhouettes of the Mystery Theatre guys watching the movie. When they are focused on the audience in this remake, it is looking at them as if you were standing on the stage, which is also a big turn off for me because I'm seated "in" the audience myself and suddenly you are changing the viewpoint to looking at "us"? Not cool.
The funeral at the church emerged right after the wedding from the same chapel. In the real world, this would never happen. They wouldn't double-book a church for one wedding and one funeral. In the first version, at least they were setting up for a funeral, not pulling a coffin out of the building right after the newlyweds come out. Creepy! To top that off, they walk around the cemetery with the coffin in a serpentine move as they follow Brad and Janet in their "Damnit Janet" song sequence. Have you ever carried a coffin? I have, twice. It is not that easy to carry, even if the deceased was skin and bones beforehand {my paternal grandfather was that way and even his coffin was hard to handle}. So, walking around a cemetery with this coffin is unrealistic.
Okay, character analysis mode, 1975 vs 2016: full power.
I was skeptical at first of a female playing the part of Dr. Frank-n-Furter but Laverne Cox did a WONDERFUL job. It was weird how they introduced him but the character grows on you. Laverne has a wonderful range of voice tone in speaking and singing which works wonders for this part!
[Tim Curry still did a better job performing this part in the original, in my honest opinion.]
There were other small differences between the original and this remake that bugged me. For one, how come Frank-n-Furter gave Rocky blonde-iced hair instead of pure blonde? In the song "Sweet Transvestite", Dr. Frank-n-Furter says that he's been making a "man with blonde hair and a tan", so why have iced hair instead of blonde, like the original? I mean, dark hair is my kinda thing and Staz Nair is pretty hunky but still.
Okay, what about Eddie. The entrance of Eddie through a window bugs me a lot. Why the heck would he come through a window?! Aside that, the whole "sharing one brain" thing was never explained in this remake. He doesn't even have a scar or blood on his head. At least in the 70s version, they showed it and explained it. In this version, it is mentioned but is not explained. It seems like Dr. Frank-n-Furter kills Eddie because he is merely taking the spotlight and he doesn't like that, especially after just revealing Rocky. "A mercy killing". Seriously?
His song was pretty awesome, though, I must admit.
On to Columbia [left is from the original RHPS, right is from the 2016 version]. This character never really did much in the first movie aside dance, but she was still pretty awesome. In the 2016 version, she is obsessed with lollipops. When Eddie is killed by Dr. Frank-n-Furter, Magenta shuts her up by putting a lollipop in her mouth. I mean seriously, if you love the man that was just murdered, cry! Don't let a lollipop shut you up.
Riff Raff, originally played by Richard O'Brien (left), was played by Reeve Carney (right). Though the look was good, I just didn't like how young he sounded. I know, that is a preference thing but still.... O'Brien sounded much more mysterious. This actor just seems like a young 30s something trying to act creepy and it just doesn't work with the character. He does have a great voice but...
Time Warp song from the original, proof of O'Brien's great mysterious voice. This is the most iconic song of the whole movie. This also shows Columbia's dancing, which really gave her character points in the old one (in my opinion).
Soundtrack of the Time Warp from the 2016 version. I couldn't find the video, which I would have loved to show because I was very disappointed in the appearance of the actors in this song. It just did not live up to expectations. It was at this point that I almost gave up on the movie in total because it disappointed me so much, but I didn't.
Picture from the Time Warp song from the 2016 movie. The choreography was a mess!
Dr. Scott - Though the ethnicity of the actors were different between the 70s version (left) and the 2016 version (right), I really enjoyed this version of this character. Ben Vereen was very lively and a great performer.
Janet Weiss - 70s version was a girl who was shy but bloomed into someone with a voice. 2016 version was a girl with the 1980s horror victim complex (screams too high and too often) and is soft. I don't like how they made her in this movie. Her character was not strong at all.
Brad Majors - 70s version to the left and the 2016 version to the right. I did not like the 2016 version because he seemed to enjoy being enamored with Dr. Frank-n-Furter instead of being shamed by it. Personal preference, again, but it was interesting in the original to see him fighting against the whole attraction thing (after the bedroom scene) and disappointing when he didn't in the 2016 version.
Another huge thing that bothered me was the fact that (in the "Hot Patootie" song where Eddie barges in through a window) there was a band area set up in the lab and they managed to move the whole drum set as well as trumpets into the area. "Hey, we've been invited up to a lab so let's bring the whole band, the piano, back up singers, mics and whatnot. Let's set it up just in case someone wants to break out in song." <- Seriously, wtf.
And why have Rocky wake up in a pop cooler container? I get that you are trying to tie the movie in to the theatre that you showed at the beginning, but seriously. And bringing the popcorn machine into the lab also was just weird....
Anyways, pretty terrible remake. It might have been better if I wasn't so biased towards the 1975 version. Maybe if I had also seen it in theatre or (wow, this is a new piece of evidence: some people actually put this on in plays at schools and acting theatres) in a show, then this version of the story would have been accepted better by myself. I don't know. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I might. I personally will not watch this again. I would prefer to unwatch this but that can't happen so I will just set it in the review here and continue onwards.
If you want to watch this movie, go ahead. Don't bring big expectations to it, though, because you will be disappointed. At least the soundtrack is the same, aside some actors/actresses sounding different (obviously) as mentioned.
That's my review! Thanks for reading. More reviews are to come so keep an eye out for them.
~Gracie Mae DeLunac
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