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One spy has seen the WICKER MAN remake and wants to burn that motherf*@#%$ to the ground!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. One of our spies has seen Neil LaBute's remake of THE WICKER MAN and boy, he didn't like it much at all. I never heard of a screening here in Austin, so I can't comment on "Gandhiboy"'s opinion until I see the flick Friday when it opens. I want it to be good and there are certain aspects to this review that give me hope, but then there are also other aspects that take it right back away again. I'm pulling for the movie, though. LaBute's put out some great work before, so he's earned a bit of trust with me. At least a $6.50 matinee ticket's worth. Enjoy the review... some spoilers below, but he doesn't give away the new and improved ending, so... that's good, right?
I watched Neil LaBute's remake of "The Wicker Man" last night, and thought I would send along a review to you.
Right off the bat, let me say that I have seen the original 1973 version of "The Wicker Man," and I don't hold it in nearly in as high of esteem as other movie lovers. The film has a rabid cult following, and while I don't dislike the movie, I never really understood the praises heaped upon it. The atmosphere is creepy, the song-and-dance numbers interesting to say the least, and the naked tombstone straddling intriguing. But in the end, it's a thin story padded with '70s-era quirks, capped by an admittedly bravura finale. So the idea of a remake, written and directed by talented filmmaker Neil LaBute (I love every one of his films except "Possession"), didn't exactly strike my as heresy. I was actually looking forward to seeing what LaBute would do with the story in the 21st century.
What I was not expecting, however, was THIS, one of the worst films I have seen this year and a travesty to anyone who found the original even remotely interesting. The central plot remains mostly unchanged: Nicolas Cage plays a cop who goes looking for a missing girl on a remote island (this time off the coast of Washington) whose inhabitants are odd to say the least. The original's religious fanatics have been replaced by a female-driven society whose ancestors sought refuge in the 1800s to escape male rule and persecution. There are a few men here and there, all silent, kept around for procreation purposes. Instead of Christopher Lee, the leader here is played by Ellen Burstyn as a sort of earthly representative of Mother Nature.
I have to say that I really liked the whole male-female dichotomy going on here. It was a brave move on LaBute's part (and probably wise to stay away from the whole religious aspect in this day and age), but I think the risk paid off, resulting in a societal view rarely seen, thus making the movie more interesting.
So Cage goes looking for clues, finding even more mystery and questions around every new corner. And just as the cop's mind slowly begins to unravel, so does the film itself.
LaBute actually does a teriffic job of establishing an eeire and unsettling atmosphere in the film's early scenes on the island. There's something obviously off about the inhabitants, with their Amish-like garb and distrust of outsiders, but their behavior is never overly crazy. It's just damn creepy, and LaBute nails it. It really gave me high expectations for the rest of the film.
Unfortunately, the film is about Cage, and his character is right out of Script Writing 101. As the movie opens, his cop is unable to save a mother and daughter from a horrible accident. So he's got the whole troubled past thing going on. And he's taking pills, which means we're supposed to constantly question whether or not the guy is indeed crazy. The lame dream sequences and black-and-white crash flashbacks don't help matters, either, considering they take up about a quarter of the film's running time.
And that's the big problem here: LaBute has replaced '70s-era kitsch with tired and worn-out cliches. The script even throws in a soap opera subplot invovling paternity issues. It's all very routine and very annoying.
So I sat in my theater seat, twidddling my thumbs, anxiously waiting to see what LaBute had up his sleeve for the ending. Would he wuss out and change the original's jaw-dropper of a conclusion?
I should've gotten the hint that something was wrong right at the start of the last reel, when the movie suddenly abandons its modern dress and turns into what looks like a film literally made in the 70s. The tone shift is so jarring that instead of inducing fear it merely illicits giggles.
And then the ending. I am not going to reveal the remake's ending here. But let me say this: The last two minutes of this film are the worst two minutes I have seen of any film this year, quite possibly this century. What LaBute does is absolutely, positively infuriating to anyone who has seen the original. He just bends it over and rapes it while screaming out, "Who's your daddy?!" Apparently, modernizing a film means adding an insulting semi-twist ending that nearly negates everything you've seen before it. It doesn't even make sense when you really stop and think about it as the theater lights come up. And if you want to get really technical, this film puts the entire feminist movement one giant step back.
But I digress. The acting here ranges from good (Nicolas Cage) to fantastic (Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski) to awful (Kate Beehan, the young girl's mother). The same can be said of LaBute's direction, which is at times inspired, other times adequate. The score by Angelo Badalamenti is terrific, as always.
I know I wouldn't have hated this film as much as I did if it wasn't for the that final scene, and I wouldn't have hated that final scene as much if I had never seen the original. So if you're going into the movie fresh, you'll probably be merely disappointed. The rest of us will just have to weep at what LaBute has done to our collective memory of the original "Wicker Man." Thanks a lot, dude.
If you use this, you can call me Gandhiboy (You had previously posted a review of "RV" from me in April)
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Please let it be not this bad!
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sounds like the ending of this makes it aaaaaall just a dream. I still wanna check it out for Ellen Burstyn though.
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always wins over Nic "I'M ACTING!" Cage. Original was okay (no plans on seeing remake). I'm sorry, but xtians are infinitely more frightening (and weird) than pagans (imho).
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dammit
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For that alone, I'll skip this one!
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...the pagan vs. chrsitianity theme is what raised this film far above other horror movies. It raised some very interesting questions for me. I only hope the new version retains that philosophical aspect.
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I hated the original until the last 5 minutes. I'm not surprised that this is a dud too.
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I adore the original and find it strange that it be remade, but I am interested in seeing it for some odd reason.
Oh and how anyone can hate a film but for the last 5 minutes is completely beyond me. -
...are FIRST! posters who aren't first and then post again to comment on how they weren't first. Anyway, I hate remakes like poison but this remake did turn me on to the original, which I never even heard of but will be renting if I can find it, so thank you, unimaginative Hollywood. So what's with the hate for Nick Cage? I don't think he's that bad. Sure he's been in his share of shit movies but even Sean Connery was in Highlander 2.
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So its a brave thing to go with the feminist angle since one should stay away from the religious element in this day and age? loony
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liked the look of the trailer. Will still give it a chance though my expectations are now lower than the Bridget's body double's ass cheeks
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The money I won't be spending on tickets is going straight to the soundtrack CD.
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A movies trailer doesn't know how it wants to present the film. Most of the people are confused after they see that trailer.
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...to see this film.
Semi-twist? Colour me intrigued, with a big fat intrigue coloured felt tip pen. And go outside the lines, too - that's how intrigued I am.
Thankfully, it opens here in the UK today.
http:\\filmick.blogspot.com -
You can't really win with remakes. If you use the same story then people ask why you bothered and if youn change it then people accuse you of crapping on the original.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azo8heDmNoQ
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Anyone watching the advertising for this film who isn't familiar with the story would assume it is some kind of supernatural theme. They keep showing dream sequences with the kid disappearing and turning into flies and other crap. Dream sequences are usually cop-outs. An excuse to show CGI that doesn't belong in the film.
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...that at the end, a man turns out to be behind the whole thing. The whole movie is a metaphor for cock worship, men run the world, we should all apologize for having nuts, humanity is rotten, blah, blah, blah. More or less LaBute's singular running theme. This guy is one of the most shallow provocateurs working today. Fuck him.
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Where Nicolas Cage is safe in the Wicker Man while everyone around him burns.
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...than "The Wicker Man". Though "Harvest Home" did star Betty Davis and had a twisted sex/murder ritual at the end, so maybe there is still hope for this picture.
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That sounds retarded enough to be the truth.
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I bet that's the twist.
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I kind of thought the ending would be Cage realizing he'd died when trying to save the girl and her mother during the highway accident or some such shit. And that's just from the commercials.
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i think spaldingreese just did.
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please return to the savage like films of "In the Company of Men"
and "your Friends and Neighbors"
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just kidding. that was actually a good review & interesting enough that it makes me want to see the remake just to see how bad the ending is. or maybe i'll just wait for the DVD.
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Say it isn't so, Joe!!! Although I'm not surprised. Today's Hollywood doesn't have the balls to tackle any serious issues or risk pissing off the Red State Christian wackos by pitting Christianity against Paganism...and having Christianity loose! As for the ending, I'm convinced the spineless cock knockers have made it either a dream, or Cage is rescued at the last minute. They don't have the fucking balls to kill him off and keep the dark ending. Spineless mother fuckers!!! No wonder mainstream Hollywood movies are dying a slow, agonizing death at the box office.
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it suddenly turns into a Transfromerz! Just in time too, because the Deceptobots have come to the island to transform into evil houshold appliances!!! After the climtactical battlepiece ensues and limps to its conkallusion, MAZINGER Z shows up (in drag) and they make hot robot love in robo-wicker-heaven forever and ever...
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so maybe spaldinggreese is right, sort of...
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Sounds like at least something good will will come out of this movie.
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its not because i dont want to watch it, i just want to be kept spoiler free. the trailer for this movie looked hideous though.
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Ellen Burstyn is his mother
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Nic Cage's character discovers a hatch beneath the wicker man and escapes into it.... where he meets a man called Locke...
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I think it's rude to shill your own site on Harry's. I think the end is when everyone involved in the film wakes up and realises that they have been locked in a giant burning wicker man on an island off the coast of scotland by an insanely cackling Christopher Lee as just punishment for their sacrilege. That would be good
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As fire engulf's ol Nic Cage his flesh deteriorates until his skull is all that remains atop his leather jacket clad trunk (mysteriously intact. One of the farm animals, previously micturating upon Nic's noggin, morphs into a mean ass motorcycle. He escapes the Wicker Man and administers his revenge on the dancing pagans.
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(I mean, what would the odds of *that* be?)
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nic cage has a beer and cheets on the wicker man.
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How can someone not like a movie but can like the last five minutes? Easy. The Wicker Man was an odd, quiet movie that spends most of its running time being a little like a sunlit Val Lewton film, with people talking about the society and weirdness, very British, very quiet. Then, in the climax, things get...weird. Then our hero, this repressed cop, is seized and something really horrible happens to him that happens to be visually interesting, too. (The Wicker Man is a bit like a film version of Jackson's The Lottery.) It's easy to like the last five minutes but not the whole movie, because the last five minutes are nightmarish and visually shocking, so unlike the previous hour-plus. (I can't recall much of the rest of the movie myself, but for years I've recalled Woodward, being dragged along in that robe, shouting "Think of what you're doing!") I also love the suggestion that Lee could be in some deep shit if this thing doesn't pan out and the crops come in or whatever.
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A tie in with the Ghost Rider origin.
I didn't pay very close attention to the Ghost Rider trailer, so I'm not sure if he was fighting Wiccans in it...regardless, the only detail that will sway my decision to either see or not see this movie is whether or not Cage screams 'Jesus Christ!!' over and over again whilst he burns.
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However, it's probably even creepier for women to live in our society. I mean, how would you like to live in a society where half the population was bigger, stronger, and always was thinking of fucking you. It would be like living in OZ.
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You seem to have got it. Lablute spends his movies revelling in bad male behavior, and in the last minutes he turns around and says "But I don't REALLY like that stuff, yeah, angry women are right, men suck." It's a cowardly approach. Either admit you enjoy bashing women or stop being such a misogynist, pick one. The approach he takes now is like all those horror movies that revel in blood and gore and in the end we're supposed to feel bad about violence, and the director gives interviews saying it's a commentary on violent media in our media-driven society. Whereas if you eliminated all the movies about violent media we wouldn't have so much violent media.
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I'm sorry, but that explanation made no sense to me and it sounds as though you have not seen the Wicker Man if you think of it as a film that spends most of it's time with characters "talking about society and weirdness". I don't see how someone can like the horrific ending without appreciating the main body of the film as I believe it is integral to the climax.
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aspects, especially by setting it in the USA. No one in the UK is religious anymore but there are still a lot of crazy bible bashers in the US. It could have been a good social commentary. Where's your God now huh? I love the original so I was never going to like this remake but at least it sounds like I have a genuine reason now...
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I actually don't ever get the part in LaBute's films where he says "women are right, men suck." It seems like he roots for his misogynist characters to the very end, and even lets us know why they are justified in hating women (case in point, the film with Rachel Weisz and Paul Rudd, can't remember the name). Typical of him to show how a matriarchal society must be evil, which is just as ridiculous as assuming that it would be paradise. Without the pagan/christian thing, this movie is pointless. And it's even more insulting to turn the paganism into satanist witchcraft, which is what the trailers imply. I still hope that's not the case.
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I don't think you want to understand. You can't figure out why someone likes for the one scene of visual splendor in an otherwise slow-paced movie that's mostly talking and dancing otherwise? You don't think I've seen the movie because I say it's mostly dialogue about society and weirdness? The whole movie is a discussion about a pagan vs. christian society, and strange dances and odd behavior by the locals which makes demented sense in the end--have YOU seen it?
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fucking brilliant. everything about this remake screams wrong to me
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Company of Men shows a wussy guy coming under the spell of a blatant woman-hater, and we enjoy his awful/funny rants throughout, but in the end the men are shown as the male counterparts of the "madonna/whore" cliches of women--men are either ineffectual wimps or woman-haters. Friends and Neighbors the same thing--the men are cnivelling wimps who can't get their act together and give their women what they want, or macho woman-haters who only use women for sex because they're still little boys. The reason his movies are such turnoffs is because he wants to have his woman-hatin' but in the end he says "Aw, I was only foolin!" In The Shape of Things, Weisz is portrayed as being the woman a guy really wants, and what does the guy do? He cheats on her--so her ultimate revelation is just him being paid back in spades (retroactively) for being a wuss who can't stand a strong woman and who cheats on his girlfriend (the same woman). Weisz is the destroyer woman, and in fact is a perfect example of a character written by someone who both fears and hates women. IMHO, of course. :)
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I'll see it just for Nick Cage's spray-starched scalp, a character unto itself. I have a hunch it will all end with Burstyn playing "corn rigs and barley rigs" on Nick's skin-flute. Yep, that's how it will all go down. Trust me.
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I can't resist... I'm so fucking sick of posts like "Hollywood can't release such-and-such for fear of pissing off the right-wing Christians." Like what? Hmmm... that's why in your world they banned the release of, say, "Hostel" and instead printed all the Mohammed cartoons on the front page of the paper, right? All you First Amendment martyrs have ZERO balls when it comes to pissing off Muslims... which doesn't take much. SPOILER: all the town's womyn are forced into a giant wicker burqa and burned alive for baring their forearms.
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Great point. I'm an atheist, but where is this fear of offending Christians in movies? As John Cleese admitted, Monty Python offended Christians instead of Muslims because Muslims would kill you. I don't see any aversion on Hollywood's part to offending Christians. Certain folks seem to need their anti-Christian stuff regularly or they feel somehow that their point of view isn't being represented. Having said that, I think it's ridiculous not to remake this with the Christian vs. Pagan material intact. Why NOT have such a debate in the context of an isolated community that is in contrast to the dominant religion of that nation? Probably because the studio was aiming at the horror market and thinks potential viewers just want the scares, and they're probably right. As for the others, how many times does one need their hatred for Christianity validated at the movies? If this movie was altered to be more with the times, Cage would have been a Muslim, and the story be about Muslim points of view about women and such in comparison to paganism--the first film took care of one religion, Chrisitanity, let's add something new to the update, something that's more timely. Instead the producers have looked at the movies we spend money on and wisely decided we're not interested in any of that.
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Friggin hilarious!
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The film is about a Christian cop looking for a missing girl on an isolated Scottish island that has kept it's Pagan heritage intact. The Christian cop is sickened by what he see's and at the same time allured by it (as seen when Britt Eckland dances naked). That is what the film is about, if you interpret it as being a dialogue about Pagan and Christian societies then that is up to you. However, I have little in your view as you have admitted that you can't recall most of the film before the ending. Oh and I can see how someone can like the ending visually, but I really don't feel that there is anything visually different separating the end and the body other than a big wickerman, a fire and a circle of singing Pagans.
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If you think that's what the movie was about--just a cop looking for a girl who meets a bad end--then, no offense, but you didn't understand the movie. You've only described the plot; that's not what the movie's about. As for the end, I think you're just being argumentative--the poster said he liked the ending, you said you didn't get that, and unless he wants to step in and explain it to you in his way, you'll have to be satisfied with my explanation. It's not a rare reaction to this film. In fact, without the ending, which has taken on cult-like status, this movie wouldn't be nearly as well-remembered as it is, and most people do NOT recall the original at all.
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I really liked to original, disturbing flick, but this, this will surely be an abomination. Zero faith, and no quality nudity.
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I am disheartened when I see the commericals for the remake. EB looks like she'll be just fine. But Nic Cage? Pick anyone: pick Sinbad, pick Tony Randell's corpse, pick Paul Giatmatti for Chrissakes! For me, The Wicker Man was a movie I had to watcha few times to get it's complexity. I don't think remake will come near to that complexity, especially if the ending is anything but the original's.
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First of all anyone going into this movie expecting it to be anything like the original should have their head checked. It was PG-13...So you can pretty much expect it to have all the punches pulled. I'd have like to seen it Rated-R, but nudity is not big in Hollywood anymore, and I pretty much think with the exception of some very rare films, it will continue to be so. But, I'm not all about the nudity...I like a good story. Is this story good...eh...pretty run of the mill. Cage goes to weirdo island to find a little girl. What made to movie work for me was Nicholas Cage...He cracked me up the whole movie. There were scenes in this movie that were meant to be funny, and others I'm not so sure about. But his involvment with these people and how he deals with their cryptic answers and bullshit made me laugh out loud more than once...and his little rampage at the end of the movie was great. As for the last two minutes being the worst two minutes on film this year or this century...please...stop the mellodrama. It was predictale, uneccessary, and there for a little borring, but not bad. I work in a theater and I can name about half a dozen movies worse than this that I've seen this year. Date Movie, An American Haunting, Snakes on a Plane, Posiedon, Nacho Libre, and Doogal. I know Doogal is a kids movie, but I'm sorry...it's 90 minutes of sheer torture. This movie isn't a classic, having never seen the original I have no idea how it measures up...but again I wasn't expecting it to the minute I heard it was going to be pg-13. So I'll say this...if you're a fan of the original...don't go see this...I'm sure you'll be disappointed...however...if you're in the mood for a weird movie that'll make you laugh (even if it really wasn't meant to) go see this. Oh and by the way Cage's rampage kicks the shit out of Samuel L. Jackson's "Mother Fuckin Snakes" line big time. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
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I know, let's "reimagine" the story and just use the title! But, why even remake it all to begin with?! No truer evidence provided here folks that the lunatics ARE running the asylum! What time to the ponies come out and do the happy dance, studio execs?
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Could someone who has seen it please give up the ending? Even if it's roughly the same - how is it different - and why is it so bad? I'd rather not spend 8 bucks to find out - so I'd appreciate it.
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If I remember the original ( saw it a loooong time ago ) I think the policeman pretty much kept to his faith. He was tempted by Britt Ekland but resisted ( his faith won out in that struggle ) and even at the end SPOILER COMING UP-----------as he burns alive in the wicker man, he still hangs on to his faith and recites a Psalm.------------END SPOILER. So I don't think they had Christianity "loose" as Mr. zzyfrx says they did. Just my opinion. I loved the original film...this new one looks like a waste of time.
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Could you tell me the last two minutes that are different. How are they different?
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I'm an atheist too... I just can't friggin' stand all this bitching about Christian "censorship" when straight-up 100 percent religious censorship is right in our faces; i.e., we won't print or broadcast the Mohammed cartoons 'cause they might offend. I see no reason why the Pagan/Christian dynamic wasn't kept... there have got to be plenty of Wiccan villages off of Washington State. Just get Nic to introduce the film with a disclaimer about witches, ala "24."
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In the last scene, Mark Walberg is talking to himself in the mirror then he whips out a massive schlong for all to see. Basically the money shot everyone is waiting for.
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In the Company of Men was a great movie and so far, the only LaBute film I have seen. People are talking about LaBute revelling in misogyny and then apologizing for it. Just because a character in a film is a misogynist, does not mean the writer/director supports his view. I thought In the Company of Men was great and whose main point that there are alphamales and non-alphamales, and the alphamales in society succeed in life including in business and with women, no matter how much of an asshole they are. Yes, the only other male character was a complete wimp and there are certainly men who fall in the spectrum between the two main characters. However, with regard to Aaron Eckhardt's character, I think the outcome for his character is pretty accurate and people like him do exist. On a side note, I especially liked the use of tribal sounds over the cards between weeks.
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Before burning Woodward, Christopher Lee told him that it was a spiritual win-win: the pagans get their sacrifice, and Woodward gets to be a martyr. One thing some people are overlooking (unless I'm really misremembering the story) was that the islanders were neopagans rather than pagans. When he came to the island, Lord Summerisle's grandfather found the inhabitants impoverished, starving, demoralized - and Christian. He reintroduced his scholarly notions of paganism in order to revitalize them.
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as has been stated many times before about the original, much of the ambiguity comes with who's side you're on. The film allows for both. If you're for the somewhat naive pagans (who are being duped by Christopher Lee's character) and you think the main character's an intolerant bigot, a prude and a total asshole, then you get what you want. If you see the main character as a Christian crusader against evil paganism, then you get to see him martyred for his faith and you have a good reason to hate the pagans. Much of the ambiguity comes from how both the director and the writer saw the film very differently and both their viewpoints made it to the screen. As far as updating it, now that I think about it, you'd have to take away the pagan element, because no pagan in this day and age would think it's a good thing to be portrayed as childlike human sacrificers. (it's all symbolic nowadays, don't ya know). And this 'rampage' thing has me worried. Does Cage go all 'Dogville' on their ass? And oh yeah, the original 'nudity' wasn't all that - nothing really that overtly sexual. Besides Britt's body double dance, you just get the naked jumping over fires thing, no different than you'd get at a typical pagan festival. And readingwriter, maybe it's true what they say that LaBute hates both genders equally. But I still think the men come off looking better in the end.
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I mean, just cos you kill a Chritsian, it doesn't make them a martyr. You have to have died *because* you are a Christian. I know there's a lot of stuff about him being a "fool" and a virgin etc but I don't think he dies for his beliefs as a Christian, I think they kill him because he fits the bill, Christian or not. As such, he is a martyr in the sense that he opposes the pagans, but I don't know if he's a martyr for Christianity.
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Edward (Nicolas Cage) cuts his way out of the burning Wicker Man with a double-edged lightsaber, and proceeds to cut down all the feminist bitches that somehow managed to overpower himand stick him in that thing. But then the Great Goat appears and picks up Edward by the lapel and Baaaas in his face. All of a sudden, Edward wakes up in ICU, having been injured in the open scene car crash. Masterfull! Brilliant! Original!
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yeah, it's obvious that Lord Summerisle must have read quite a bit of Sir James George Frazer's late nineteenth-century classic, The Golden Bough, and introduced Frazer's unsubstantiated, and sometimes, wildly innacurate, theories about Western European pre-christian paganism, like the Grain King sacrifice, the Beltane fires and other little tidbits like the Hand of Glory. But then again, he didn't do anything different than quite a few neopagans at the time. I know some pagans back in the day practically thought the Golden Bough was their Bible and cookbook all in one. What most people don't realize is that Frazer's agenda was to discredit all religion as magic (Christ is just another sacrificed god, etc.) and that magic was just failed science. Even though his theories have often been critiqued and discredited, many people have used (and given new life to) Frazer's work for their own purposes. It's the usual thing about how religions get started - it's usually not a real event turned into legend, it's the opposite - legend interpreted into practice. So, yeah, the point about Wicker Man's people being neopagan is an important one.
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does cage live?
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They based their beliefs on some guy's pub?
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...but does anyone have an update on "Cowboys for Christ/May Day/Riding of the Laddie"? That's the REAL "Wicker Man" followup, but I have no idea if it's anywhere near getting made...
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the original was weird and creepy a bit like Don't look Now with a horrific ending to an intriguing, slow burn film. This new one looks visually ok but how can they have him sacrificed in a wicker man at the end in a Fucking PG!? he either escapes which is crap! or they do melt him but in silhouette or something!? or maybee they just throw bloody tampons at him, Anyway Who cares?
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There's a burning, straw ape of General Thade as Wickerman Lincoln.
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anything but crap from this movie. The trailers were a confusing mess and any attempts Nic Cage has made to be in more mainstream fare in recent years have fallen flat. Also, I hope the ending somehow involves Narfs.
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Cage dies (duh) and then in the last 2 minutes 2 girls from the island are in some bar picking up 2 guys who are cops just like Cage!! You do the math...
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It's crap! I didn't see that coming, no siree. Another nail in the coffin for shit remakes, huzzah!
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Aug 31, 2006 3:02:06 PM CDT
So how the hell is the twist handled this time around?
by performingmonkey
For anyone who hasn't seen the original Wicker Man, just fucking pick it up, it's a CLASSIC CLASSIC movie, very stark and strange and with multiple messages (neither Christians or pagans 'lose', Christians aren't shown in a bad light like some people assume they are, after all the main character has very strong Christian values that he upholds to the very end). What's great about it is that you don't realise you've been watching a horror movie until the end. I was totally blown away by the ending. If you don't know the story (like I didn't when I first saw it) it is a big twist ending that hits you in the face. They must use the same or similar twist in the Cage remake or you might as well forget it. However, here it seems there is another stupid semi-twist that fucks everything up. I'm surprised that no-one has posted the ending yet, obviously not many people have seen it. The semi-twist is probably a cheesy Hollywood twist along the lines of The Village. The funniest twist would be if Cage was a woman all along. My guess about the REAL twist (not the stupid semi-twist) is that the men on the island (who are supposed to be there just for breeding purposes) are really the bosses who the women worship. That's why it's a big step back for feminism because it ends with a strong female society being just a lie and the men rule. That ending won't be popular with women.
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Aug 31, 2006 3:13:20 PM CDT
Well of course it's not going be cinema for the ages.
by orbots commander
Wicker Man is coming out at the end of summer, beginning of September. Along with February, it's known as one of the months where studios dump all their really bad crappy movies that end up in video store bargain bins.
And I think that Labute swapping a congregation of religious fanatices for a female-centric cult following as the antagonists is one hell of a cop out.
What's more relevant in 2006, a thriller with themes of fanaticism or a message about females in society?
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Aside from Wicker Man, all his movies (and the Broadway show he directed, too) feel like they belong on Lifetime. Talk about boring, heavy handed, and pretentious.
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In various interviews, Labute, who supposedly loved the original "Wicker Man," has insinuated that in the original, he didn't like the musical angle, dismissed the nude scenes, and wasn't interested in delving into the whole "religion vs. paganism" theme. Huh?! Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the show? It's sort of like if Labute was the one re-making King Kong and he announced he loved and respected the original, except for all the stuff about the giant ape.
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Edward Woodward dies in the end, just watch Breaker Morant.
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If Cage just dies - how is the ending different? Why is it bad? What is Cage's freekout?
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it's not 'religion vs. paganism'. It's Christianity vs. paganism. Remember, Summerisle says his people are 'deeply religious.' But I like the idea of it being a Burning Man festival. Then Cage would be attacked by tripping performance artists with faerie wings, glitter and body paint.
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If you review a movie and think it is shit. Do you expect everybody to go and watch a shit movie to see the twist ending?
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Looking at the other crappy cliches that the reviewer brings up, it would not surprise me at all if they had the original negative ending up turned it into a positive: As Edward burns to death he has visions of himself walking towards heaven holding hands with the little girl who burned in the car crash (possibly after saving her). Man I hope that doesn't happen because it would be really lame!
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Then that would explain the undermining of everything before the ending. Why go through all the shit of trying to get guys to come to your island the hard way?
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Can't say for certain if this is fact, but here's what someone claims the ending is:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450345/board/thread/52564758 -
After reading more posts on the IMDB, that ending seems to be the real one; others are confirming that they saw it.
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I appreciate it. Nothing new after all. I don't get this kind of remake. It seems to me you'd either want to be really faithful - introducing a new generation to the story - or do something new and different. This sounds like something in between. Making the same movie with the guts removed.
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LaBute is the biggest misogynist out there, pretending that all his woman-hating drivel is just being "honest" and "courageous." In his films women are either passive-aggressive whiners (the chick in "In The Company of Men;" Amy Brenneman in "Your Friends and Neighbors") or total back-stabbing ball-busters (Catherine Keener in "Your Friends and Neighbors;" Rachel Weisz in "The Shape of Things"). So I'm sure at the end of THIS film all the EVOL WOMEN [tm LaBute] will end up burning instead of Cage's character. In any event, I knew this remake would be a dog and apparently it is.
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Followed the link to the spoilers about the end, and all I gotta say is, at least LaBute is consistent. You want overt misogyny, he's your director.
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http://tinyurl.com/jj5u2
link to article with a breakdown of entire second half, the ending, and all spoilers for remake (psuedo-major twists)
*SPOILERS* -
http://tinyurl.com/jj5u2 <--------*ENDING SPOILERS*
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But why the fuck did they have to add on that little coda? It sounds cheesy and makes no sense. It's as though he didn't want to finish it on the wicker man burning like the original just to prove a point.
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Then it wasn't a complete waste of time.
I reckon they should cast him in a live action version of Captain Scarlett, so we can see all the inventive ways to kill Nic Cage!
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Who is there?
No one but me, my dear!
Please come say, How do?
The things I'll give to you.
By stroke as gentle as a feather
I'll catch a rainbow from the sky
And tie the ends together.
Hey ho! I am here
Am I not young and fair?
Please come say, How do?
The things I'll show to you.
Would you have a wondrous sight
The midday sun at midnight?
Fair maid, white and red,
Comb you smooth and stroke your head
How a maid can milk a bull!
And every stroke a bucketful.
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