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The 1973 film for me while slightly missing out on the classic status was very effective and well done, very bizarre and disturbing when it needed to be and elevated by a brilliant Christopher Lee especially. Anyway that is enough, for I am not going to try comparing the film to this dross. Both this and the Psycho remakes were completely unnecessary and awful on their own terms, but if I had to edge out which was worse, Psycho but that is not saying much.
This remake of The Wicker Man may be glossy, it may be expensive, but guess what? In my opinion, it was completely and utterly pointless as well. It was hilarious but for all the wrong reasons, whether it is the meaningless plot change about Nicolas Cage's character being allergic to bees or the finale, which was way overdone in the sense I couldn't stop laughing.
The film certainly looks glossy and expensive, but that's the thing, they overdo it with the visuals as well so it all looks flashy with no sense of melancholy or menace underneath. And I can't count the number of scenes that were dumbed or dulled down, even the pagan May Day rituals weren't that convincing, not to mention the plot, dull, thin and meandering. The script is sorely lacking as well the dialogue at worst was absolutely laughable, as is the direction, and I was not impressed by the acting either. Nicolas Cage is an uninspired lead literally sleepwalking through his role, while Kate Beahan and Ellen Burstyn(who was so brilliant in Requiem for a Dream) can't do anything with their characters, no surprise seeing as the script leaves them little to work with.
Overall, a real mess of a remake with next to no redeeming qualities. The bottom line is give it a pass and watch the far superior original instead. 1/10 Bethany Cox
