When I first heard they were remaking The Wicker Man, I was a bit excited. I really liked the original mostly for its campiness and Christopher Lee’s turtlenecks, so I didn’t have a lot invested in the original to get riled up about in a remake. As luck would have it, I have not been so disappointed in a remake in a very long time.
The plot of the movie follows fairly closely to the original. Nicolas Cage is Edward Malus, a policeman who is called to the remote island of Summersisle to help an old flame, Willow find her missing daughter. What he finds there gets his back up, as he finds an island filled with women who laugh at him and have men as second class citizens. No one will help him, and he digs deeper and deeper to find the truth. Little does he know the truth will be deadly.
Neil La Bute has directed several movies about the battle of the sexes, and so this time around, The Wicker Man is all about men vs. women instead of Christian vs. pagan. I have to say that is probably my biggest beef with the whole remake. The battle of the sexes feels very outdated, and in these times, a commentary on the religious right would have been very applicable.
I did love the visuals in this movie. The costuming is beautiful and the locations are enchanting. Beyond that, I didn’t find much to like. The actors, even though there were several of note, were just deadpan. Nic Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Frances Conroy, and Molly Parker all are excellent actors, but for some reason they were all cardboard this time around. LeeLee Sobieski was completely wasted. I was shocked.
I wouldn’t recommend this remake to anyone, especially to any die hard fans of the original. Heck, I wouldn't recommend it to people who just saw the original. It’s just not worth the two hours. There was so much possibility here, and it was just not realized in any way.
Rating: 1 Hiss, for totally missing the mark this time around
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