So I watched the original "The Wicker Man" the night before, in preparation for the Cage version. And in watching the new one I am left with the impression that the filmmakers wanted to make a parody, but, parodies of 30+ year old movies having as they do, rather limited audiences, they masqueraded it as a remake, to get it produced.
The end result is somewhere in between a parody and a remake, and it's pretty weird. The audience for this film is probably even tinier -- those expecting a remake will be disappointed by a slew weird changes from the original film, and those who haven't seen the original will probably find it to be an incoherent mess. But with the original fresh in mind and having no especial fondness for it, I found the remake highly entertaining. And as a vehicle for Cage to do what he does best, that is, go a little bit crazy, this film is ideal.
Take for example a scene early in the film where Cage visits a school classroom. The scene is ripped directly from the original film, but exaggerated and made funny. "Phallic symbol, phallic symbol" chant the children, as if quoting the original film, and stripping it of context and meaning. Then there's the crow in the desk. And then there's Cage's dramatic point at the empty desk. All of these moments are funny if you remember the original. The teacher's slip of the tongue in this scene is particularly funny, because you realize that she's just revealed something the film wasn't supposed to reveal yet -- but the dramatic tension isn't lost because having seen the original you already knew what was going to happen.
From there it gets worse if you've not seen the original. The whole pagan thing is never actually explained and instead there's this weird women vs. men thing going on. On reflection I have no idea what the point of the beginning was. Other important details that made the narrative of the original cohesive are brushed over. And there's an added twist to the original twist ending that obviously doesn't make sense. Good film.
The end result is somewhere in between a parody and a remake, and it's pretty weird. The audience for this film is probably even tinier -- those expecting a remake will be disappointed by a slew weird changes from the original film, and those who haven't seen the original will probably find it to be an incoherent mess. But with the original fresh in mind and having no especial fondness for it, I found the remake highly entertaining. And as a vehicle for Cage to do what he does best, that is, go a little bit crazy, this film is ideal.
Take for example a scene early in the film where Cage visits a school classroom. The scene is ripped directly from the original film, but exaggerated and made funny. "Phallic symbol, phallic symbol" chant the children, as if quoting the original film, and stripping it of context and meaning. Then there's the crow in the desk. And then there's Cage's dramatic point at the empty desk. All of these moments are funny if you remember the original. The teacher's slip of the tongue in this scene is particularly funny, because you realize that she's just revealed something the film wasn't supposed to reveal yet -- but the dramatic tension isn't lost because having seen the original you already knew what was going to happen.
From there it gets worse if you've not seen the original. The whole pagan thing is never actually explained and instead there's this weird women vs. men thing going on. On reflection I have no idea what the point of the beginning was. Other important details that made the narrative of the original cohesive are brushed over. And there's an added twist to the original twist ending that obviously doesn't make sense. Good film.