Ross The Giraffe
I'm a very big fan of the original, and when I saw the remake was in the works, I was pretty stoked. However, after watching it, and then giving a second watch (after watching the original first) for comparison, and the benefit of the doubt, it's clear that it wasn't anywhere close to the campy quality of the original, and wasn't as fun to watch, if not difficult/uncomfortable to watch at times.There's a lot of things that I disliked about this remake, and I feel like I'm going to be dissecting everything. However I will give props on the costumes for Brad and Janet, but that's where I draw the line on accuracy. I love Victoria Justice's voice. It's very satisfying to listen to, but that's about it. She, among a lot of the cast, are clearly very into it, almost too into it, however there's not as much energy as the original, which I didn't think would be possible.The casting of Frank N Furter was sorta uncomfortable to watch, maybe it's just me that sees it as a little iffy for a transgender woman to play a man who just dresses as a woman (Frank is a transvestite, not a transgender woman). Clearly if Laverne Cox has no issue, then it's probably a complaint from a trans person with a differing point of view, as much as it may not be a real issue, it was still hard to watch due to the performance, especially with the accent slipping every so often. I'm a fan of Cox, but choosing a woman for the role, and making Frank a woman, isn't really the direction I saw this going in, nor am I a fan of it.There's the casting of Brad and Janet, who easily made the best performances of the movie. Reeve Carney was also one of the better choices in casting, the actor has a great voice which suited the character of Riff-Raff, and didn't blend into the background as much as Magenta did. When she did have dialogue, she was hard to watch and had a very grating high voice. Columbia wasn't memorable. They tried to compensate for the flat performance with the bright pink and blue hair, but didn't really succeed. In the original she had plenty of energy, but this version seemed to take the punk aesthetic too far with the "not caring attitude" but it just made her unlikeable. There's not much room for complaint with Rocky, as he stayed mostly close to the original character, there's not much dialogue to mess up for him. Ben Vereen turned Dr Scott into a comedic character, which isn't a very favourable character change either.The biggest flaw in casting to me was Adam Lambert being picked to play Eddie. I understand he's a big LGBT icon, and I have a feeling the modern LGBT community was the audience this remake was mostly aimed at, and that he's a singer with a great voice, I unironically listen to his old hits on a regular basis as well as his new ones. But his voice just doesn't do it for me in this particular genre (being rock n roll). Meatloaf gave some amazing grinding vocals for a real rock n roll feel, but I wouldn't say that Lambert's voice achieved this, and like a lot of the other parts of the movie, fell flat, turning a rock n roll song into a horrendous and sloppy pop anthem.Some of the songs were okay, such as "There's a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place", and "Dammit Janet". But the Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite were butchered, which is a shame, as those are the most iconic parts of the movie. In other words, a complete debacle, like "Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul" and "Eddie" (though arguably we hear some rock-style vocals from Lambert, which would have been nice to see earlier when he had a full song)."Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" fell flat (I feel like I've said this a lot), I feel like it was watered down from the original. The song is supposed to be sexier, the subject matter of the song can't exactly be watered down like they did here, and the mismatch of the song lyrics and the actions from everyone involved in the song made me feel like I was watching a school production as opposed to the movie that gives a nod to a few adult themes. The whole movie seems watered down to get as low of an age rating as possible and to cause as little offense as possible. That and making it "old school rock and roll" but as modern as possible? This is another mismatch that just didn't sit right.I enjoyed seeing Tim Curry making an appearance, but it was also unsettling, considering he'd be associated with a movie that was a mockery of the one that helped to start his career, I wonder how he feels about it post- production?The remake didn't do the original any justice, but you can tell they really tried. Props to everyone involved for really trying to make this a good production but the efforts didn't really have a great result. The audience participation prompts were an interesting addition, but didn't revive the performances from half of the cast. The original should have been left alone, as the cult classic we know and love, that is almost a decade shy of being 50 years old.
Paul Magne Haakonsen
By all that is unholy, why? Why remake the 1975 classic? It just made no sense in any way. But yet I took the time to sit down and watch the 2016 remake titled "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again" when I got the chance. Curiosity is a strange thing, isn't it? I will be the first to admit that I was already wearing a negative collar before the movie had even started, because director Kenny Ortega was messing with a masterpiece in the musical genre.The songs will take some time getting used to, because I have grown accustomed to the original versions and hold them up against the original. And from the very first song, it was sort of running coldly down the back of my neck, because it just sounded wrong and it felt like I was committing a sin in watching this. The songs had undergone a bit of change. For the better? Well, that depends on who you ask. But me, as a long-time fan of the original, then it didn't sit well with me that the songs were retouched and modified in this way. But fair is fair, the songs themselves are not bad, they are just not the originals. For for a new audience the songs would be great.It should be said that they had an impressive production value to this remake. But again, so overly unnecessary to remake what was already perfect and timeless. So why do the Timewarp again?It was nice to see Tim Curry make an appearance in this 2016 remake, despite not reprising the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. So at least the remake does pay some respect and homage to the original and also gives a nod in the direction of us long-time fans of the original musical.As for the cast, well they had some good enough talents on the cast list, though I can't really claim to be overly familiar with the people there. But they were doing good jobs with their given roles and characters.I am feeling somewhat ambivalent about the characters, because there are distinct similarities, but also deviations from the original ones. Reeve Carney was doing an almost a frame-by-frame copy of Richard O'Brien in the role of Riff Raff. Sure, I can acknowledge and understand the choice of Laverne Cox as Frank-N-Furter given the transsexual thing, but she was no Tim Curry as the original Frank-N-Furter, not even reaching him to the knees. Actually, most of the character were a hard pill to swallow if you are a fan of the original 1975 version, but Reeve Carney and Laverne Cox were the two that proved the most bitter.It was a bit odd and distracting to have the movie alternate between the events in the story and showcasing the audience participation in the theater. It just didn't had a natural flow to it.Not being able to properly sing along was a major setback for the movie, especially when watched by us long-time fans of the original. Sure, we knew the exact words, but the timing and delivery was just freakishly distorted and warped.Visually then "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again" was interesting and quite much in the essence and spirit of the 1975 version, though it was spruced up to a more contemporary time, for better or worse.This musical is suitable for viewers whom like musicals and whom may for some unknown reason have eluded getting acquainted with the original 1975 masterpiece. And I can in all honesty say that I have now watched this 2016 remake once, but it will never be watched again, because it was frankly just so upsetting that they remade the original piece.I am a big fan of the original 1975 version, as you clearly can see from my words here, but I can't claim to ever become a fan of the 2016 remake.
Solly sussman
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again" is a remake of the 1975 Cult-classic film, Rocky Horror Picture Show. Going into this movie I thought to myself, "maybe it won't be so bad". By the end, I gathered my thoughts. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. The acting is horrendous, as if the actors were in a high school play; and the Musical numbers are inferior compared to the original. The main problem I have with this movie is the atmosphere of it, it's trying to hard to be like other musical remakes (i.e. Grease). The original had its own feel to it, it was low budget, grainy, and cheap, yet it was original and fresh. Overall, if you want to introduce your friends to Rocky Horror Picture Show, avoid this movie like the plague.
