Everything New is Well-Forgotten Old

Though it’s been around for a while, the tendency of remaking old films is extremely topical in our time, where it seems as if the ingenious directors didn’t have ideas more creative than just for remaking something that’s been out and thought about for decades. The world of cinematography is constantly changing but this tendency is definitely here to stay.

To be honest, I don’t have any attitude to it. It’s good to watch the original with the idea and its realization, but, nonetheless, the remake delivers a new idea or perspective of the director. Different people from relatively different times and generations worked on the production of the same idea which makes it super fun to compare them. I’m always incredibly excited to find out about a remake because I know it’ll be made with the help of modern equipment by people of this time. So, sometimes it’s not bad to let the original go because things change and that’s fine. However, there are motion pictures that should never be remade as they’re timeless, legendary and a remake would just ruin the whole impression. For instance, The Matrix or the Breakfast Club should stay powerful examples of cinema that they are and never be touched.

As I’m writing this, I realize my attitude to this tendency is rather positive because I don’t see anything wrong with it, it just shows that these movies remade are notable and still relevant to the audiences.

Let’s compare the original animated film Aladdin (1992) and its live-action remake directed by Guy Ritchie starring Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott Aladdin (2019). Now, I have to mention that this story is my favorite Disney animated film and I was exhilarated about the remake with such wonderful lead actors and ran to the movies the day the film came out. As you know, I’m not a capricious viewer that’s why I enjoyed the film. Seeing my favorite characters as real people was nice, the soundtrack was phenomenal and special effects authentic. Of course, I can’t say it was much better than the original but I appreciated this remake and am ready to watch it again any time.

Another film is Ocean’s 11. The original, directed by Lewis Milestone in 1960 is, truthfully, not as good as its 2001 remake by Steven Soderbergh. Some scenes just look like the actors like Frank Sinatra didn’t even want to be there. There’re too many plots that make it difficult to follow the idea. I liked the heist itself and the scenes of the Rat Pack together but that’s all. On the other side, the remake with George Clooney as Danny Ocean who also leads his team on a heist. It’s clear that the crew made a lot of significant changes working on this film. The cast and the characters are more diverse and interesting as each has some recognizable traits of character. The heist is complicated and requires loads of work. The goal is fully explained and the audience understands why they’re doing it. In other words, this picture is generally more structured and deliberate and we can confidently say that it respectfully surpassed the original.

Thank you,

Anya