When you have a remake of a classic, especially a cult classic, you know that the studio producing it is taking a big risk. In all actuality, they pretty much HAVE to hit it out of the park as they're damned from the get go. There will always be one sect of people who will come into it with a preconceived notion of how things "needs to be done," with any deviation being a blasphemousWhen you have a remake of a classic, especially a cult classic, you know that the studio producing it is taking a big risk. In all actuality, they pretty much HAVE to hit it out of the park as they're damned from the get go. There will always be one sect of people who will come into it with a preconceived notion of how things "needs to be done," with any deviation being a blasphemous action taken against their beloved move that should be met with pitchforks and an angry mob. On the other hand, if you don't take a chance and do something different in order to distinguish yourself from the original, you'll be criticised for making an inferior copy of the original with no mind of its own, devoid of a reason to watch this remake other than a shiny new coat of paint. You're pretty much damned before you start, so I have respect for everyone on this film/television event for attempting to take this venture on.
Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I wasn't a fan... not to say there wasn't good in it. Cox has the gravitas and talent to become a great musical theatre performer and held her own in the part, but there was just something missing from her performance. No it's not that she isn't Tim Curry, I've been in and seen multiple productions of the show, there was just a certain... Je ne se qua to the part that she didn't have. (and no, it is also not because it's a woman playing the part, I've seen Frank played by a woman before and she was fantastic) That was one of the biggest faults here, and I could go on for a while picking this thing apart, but I've listed it's biggest flaws below.
-A lot of the musical scores were lackluster, and the dumbing down of the content (Mental mind game? Really? You could have said it and bleeped it.) was more of a detriment than it needed to be.
-Showing the audience for some of the call outs was a terrible Idea. Yes it is something that has become quite standard with a midnight viewing of this show, but all showing it on screen did was needlessly pull you out of the action, ultimately being more distracting than anything else.
-There were also a lot of costume design choices I didn't like (specifically the floor show with the exception of one costume). Don't get me wrong, there are some wonderful choices also. Brad's floor show look gave me LIFE. But again, some things just didn't... mesh.
Not that there weren't any pros:
-Annaleigh Ashford's Columbia was a highlight and was a wonderful interpretation of a classic character.
-At risk of being lynched for saying this, I actually preferred this Planet Schmanet over the original's, Cox REALLY went in for the kill on this one.
Ultimately the cast looked like they had fun, and it was an adequate production over all, and that's what matters. But there's lot that's missing that makes the experience truly the classic that it is. It's still an interesting watch, but if you're looking to get introduced to the experience, you're best bet is to see the original at a midnight showing (with or without a shadow cast... or see the musical it was based on, also a great start)… Expand
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp AgainYour Score0 out of 10User Score
