Tags:
Film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again
Year: 2016
Director: Kenny Ortega
Writer: Richard O’Brien
Starring: Reeve Carney, Tim Curry and Laverne Cox
Review:
This is a remake that I’ll be honest, I wasn’t overly excited for. I’m also biased because I’m such a fan of the original. This is one that I still gave a shot to when it came out. I’ve now seen it three times I believe with the most recent watch with my wife, Jaime, as we did a triple feature with the first one, Shock Treatment and ending with this.
Synopsis: a straitlaced, square couple, seeking shelter from a storm find themselves in the castle of a transgender alien mad scientist intent on creating a buff bodybuilder.
This film begins outside of a movie theater where an usher, played by Ivy Levan, sings Science Fiction Double Feature to start us off. We see guests arrive as she oversees the normal duties of a theater before the real story begins. The crowd in the theater we will come back to as they act out things that people did at midnight showings.
We then shift to a wedding. Two of the guests are Janet Weiss (Victoria Justice) and Brad Majors (Ryan McCartan). Janet catches the boutique and Brad’s friend congratulates him. Keeping in line with the tradition, Brad proposes to Janet. They decide to go see the high school teacher who introduced them to share their news.
It is then that meet the criminologist narrating the tale, played by Tim Curry. He introduces the background of the characters and the story itself. He is accompanied by his butler, played by Jayne Eastwood.
We jump back to our couple while they’re in the car. It is raining hard and a motorcyclist passes them. They find this odd due to the weather. They hit a dead end and as they back-up, a tire blows out. Brad decides to go find help at the castle they passed, but Janet won’t let him go by himself. Our couple braves the elements to double back.
They ring the bell and are met by the handyperson, Riff Raff (Reeve Carney). He invites them inside. We then meet his sister who is a housekeeper named Magenta (Christina Milian). These siblings break out into a song from their home called the Time Warp. They aren’t alone as we see Transylvanians who are having a convention. It is during this that we also meet a groupie of the doctor in charge here, Columbia (Annaleigh Ashford). Brad and Janet are shocked by what they see.
That is until they meet the host of the party. It is the Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Laverne Cox). She sings a song introducing herself and then learns a little about her two new guests. She invites them to her laboratory to see an experiment. It is from here that we see she is making a man, Rocky (Staz Nair). This is just the beginning of a night this young couple will never forget as they taste the forbidden fruit. It will be a struggle to get out alive though.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the story. I’ll bring back up that I love the original so I was critical of this one. It doesn’t help that this is a shot-for-shot remake with just tweaks here and there. It is also difficult with the racy subject matter to air this on Fox. I don’t want you to think that I hate this though so let me get to the positives.
I think that they do a good job at bringing this story to life. I’m going to go into acting first because I think that McCartan plays a great Brad. I don’t love Justice though as Janet. I think she’s beautiful and has a great singing voice. My issue is that she plays the role with more sass and I don’t know if it works in capturing that 1950s woman like she’s trying to do. Nair is good in his role of Rocky. He has a good body for it. Carney and Milian are both good at what they do, but there are slight issues with both for me. The former tries too much to be Richard O’Brien when he’s not singing. I don’t know if they give enough for Milian to do. I love that they brought Curry in as the criminologist. I also think that Cox steals the show as Dr. Frank-N-Further and I love how she borrows things Curry did while making the role her own. The rest of the cast are solid for what was needed to round this out.
Let me then get over to the story. I do like that it captures the vibe of what they need to. This is a story about a couple who has been shielded from getting introduced to absolute pleasure. They have desires they’ve been ignoring due to what society says. We see what happens when they’re unchecked. I love the commentary here that we shouldn’t be squares like Brad and Janet, but Rocky and Dr. Frank-N-Furter partake too much. I feel this is a story about moderation.
Since this is a musical, let me go into the songs. I’ve already given credit to the acting. I do think that the renditions here are fine. My issue when watching this is the fact that it makes me want to watch the superior original. I feel bad saying that. Part of that I believe comes from this being a shot-for-shot remake. It is interesting since the singing here is probably better. McCartan, Justice, Milian, Nair, Lambert and Carney probably have more talent than the counterparts. There is charm that is lost here for me though.
What I’ll end this out with then would be filmmaking. I do think this is shot well. The cinematography is good. I love the setting as it feels like the original and there are homages throughout. What is interesting here is that this mansion has a theater marquee outside so that explains where the floor show is done. It also seems like the same one from the beginning. Regardless, no issues with the framing or how this is shot. We don’t get a lot in the way of effects, but we don’t necessarily need them. There is a 1950s cheesy vibe which is also honoring with different aspects.
In conclusion, this is a decent remake of a cult classic. I think that the casting here is good for the most part. This clearly has money behind it and they did well in capturing the vibe of this taboo musical. There are little choices here and there that don’t work for me. The biggest sin for me is that this is a shot for shot remake so I want to watch the original while watching this. This would be more approachable for a younger audience in hopes that they want to see what started this craze. Not horrible, but I’m not the target here.
My Rating: 5 out of 10