The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

I gave it a two for costumes and it's rocky horror. But this sucks. What were they thinking with the changes to the music and the unnecessary voice changes? The only actor they got right was riff raff. How can you possibly do worse than the original? Completely lack any sort of spark, put a woman in the role of Frank, place it in an old movie house, and have some of the worst acting I've ever seen.

Why would they bring in Adam lambert and not make him frank? And do tell me why Columbia isn't falling all over Eddie.

It's actually painful to watch. And I'm seriously not sure how much more I can stand.

First things first, I was among the few who was genuinely excited about this remake. I thoroughly enjoyed 2015's "Rocky Horror Show Live" (check You Tube) and the various other musical TV productions of recent years. However, my enthusiasm gradually transformed into disgust for what I was witnessing. When I was in junior high and high school, I was ridiculed for my obsessive love of Rocky Horror. Then in 1991, Fox debuted the movie for Halloween and the next day, the very same kids who'd made fun of me were Time Warping in the school hallway. It was weird, and I later realized that was THE moment when RHPS began to mutate from a subversive cult thing to a mainstream classic. Watching this glossy travesty, I found myself overwhelmed by that same uneasy feeling I had a quarter-century ago after Fox first aired the film.

It took me a while to figure out the problem with the 2016 version. The cast and crew bestowed it with the same respect that audiences have shown the film in theaters for decades: They've treated it like it's schlock to be made fun of. There were certainly campy winks and nods in the original, but when it came time for the characters to emote, you believed Tim Curry could abruptly snap and violently murder someone or Susan Sarandon was having spontaneous orgasms. Those nuances are mostly absent in the performances here, and it's so self-aware and Disney-fied that it's kind of insulting. It's one thing for the audience to mock the screen, but most of the actors are mocking the characters that they themselves are portraying, which just doesn't work.

The dishonor of worst performance goes to Ben Vereen, who was woefully miscast as Dr. Scott. Placing the black Vereen in the role of uncle to white Adam Lambert's Eddie was a questionable decision to begin with, but Vereen mugs his way through his scenes, acting as if he's starring in some insipid kiddie comedy. It's downright bizarre. Runner-up in the worst performer category goes to Laverne Cox, who gives an admittedly exuberant but ultimately hollow performance as the mad scientist. Cox offered none of the underlying menace that Curry displayed in the role (Tim Curry could kill you, but Laverne Cox only seems capable of a whopping bitchslap) and she played it like she was the singular star in a glitzy drag show, mimicking Curry's syllables and vocal inflections with an annoying, fluctuating British/Southern Belle accent. The good Franks (Anthony Head, for example) fully inhabited the character and injected it with their own stamp, which Cox did not.

Perhaps the worst aspect of this production (overlooking the fact that the dancers aren't doing the steps being audibly described in the titular Time Warp) is how they've systematically whitewashed the rampant sexuality which was so pivotal to the flimsy plot. Today sexual deviancy is socially acceptable, other network TV offerings frequently devolve into scenes that would have once been considered X-rated -- and the Fox network aired the original film numerous times throughout the 1990s with minimal trims, so there's really no excuse. Casting Cox as a woman (regardless of the fact that she used to be a dude) completely undermines the story of the wholesome Leave it to Beaver couple being torn apart by a kinky sex freak. It was the gay community which embraced the movie back in the '70s, we have at least one openly gay and one transgendered star, and yet virtually all traces of homosexuality (as well as incest) were eliminated. It's oddly incongruous and completely destroys the narrative.

That's not to say that everything's bad. Adam Lambert and Ivy Levan are stand-outs as Eddie and the Usherette. Annaleigh Ashford gave a radically different interpretation of Columbia which works well, given the character's story arc. Similarly, Reeve Carney made Riff-Raff his own. Victoria Justice has an awesome singing voice. Tim Curry lends an appropriate air of dignity, and although he was physically unable to do all the things that his part required (such as turning the pages of a book), they came up with an inventive workaround. Nice to see him again, even in poor health. Unfortunately, the cons FAR outweigh the pros in this production.

Generally speaking, the remake that no one wanted (dating back to the days when MTV was going to do it) has lived up to all of the hateful hype. It brings nothing new to the table, it's like a pallid carbon-copy on tissue paper. Your best bet's to stick with the original, see the 2015 version or catch a live show instead.

By all that is unholy, why? Why remake the 1975 classic? It just made no sense in any way. But yet I took the time to sit down and watch the 2016 remake titled "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again" when I got the chance. Curiosity is a strange thing, isn't it? I will be the first to admit that I was already wearing a negative collar before the movie had even started, because director Kenny Ortega was messing with a masterpiece in the musical genre.

The songs will take some time getting used to, because I have grown accustomed to the original versions and hold them up against the original. And from the very first song, it was sort of running coldly down the back of my neck, because it just sounded wrong and it felt like I was committing a sin in watching this. The songs had undergone a bit of change. For the better? Well, that depends on who you ask. But me, as a long-time fan of the original, then it didn't sit well with me that the songs were retouched and modified in this way. But fair is fair, the songs themselves are not bad, they are just not the originals. For for a new audience the songs would be great.

It should be said that they had an impressive production value to this remake. But again, so overly unnecessary to remake what was already perfect and timeless. So why do the Timewarp again?

It was nice to see Tim Curry make an appearance in this 2016 remake, despite not reprising the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. So at least the remake does pay some respect and homage to the original and also gives a nod in the direction of us long-time fans of the original musical.

As for the cast, well they had some good enough talents on the cast list, though I can't really claim to be overly familiar with the people there. But they were doing good jobs with their given roles and characters.

I am feeling somewhat ambivalent about the characters, because there are distinct similarities, but also deviations from the original ones. Reeve Carney was doing an almost a frame-by-frame copy of Richard O'Brien in the role of Riff Raff. Sure, I can acknowledge and understand the choice of Laverne Cox as Frank-N-Furter given the transsexual thing, but she was no Tim Curry as the original Frank-N-Furter, not even reaching him to the knees. Actually, most of the character were a hard pill to swallow if you are a fan of the original 1975 version, but Reeve Carney and Laverne Cox were the two that proved the most bitter.

It was a bit odd and distracting to have the movie alternate between the events in the story and showcasing the audience participation in the theater. It just didn't had a natural flow to it.

Not being able to properly sing along was a major setback for the movie, especially when watched by us long-time fans of the original. Sure, we knew the exact words, but the timing and delivery was just freakishly distorted and warped.

Visually then "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again" was interesting and quite much in the essence and spirit of the 1975 version, though it was spruced up to a more contemporary time, for better or worse.

This musical is suitable for viewers whom like musicals and whom may for some unknown reason have eluded getting acquainted with the original 1975 masterpiece. And I can in all honesty say that I have now watched this 2016 remake once, but it will never be watched again, because it was frankly just so upsetting that they remade the original piece.

I am a big fan of the original 1975 version, as you clearly can see from my words here, but I can't claim to ever become a fan of the 2016 remake.

I've been a fan of Rocky Horror for as long as I can remember and I've seen it live on stage a couple f times and love seeing different ideas and approaches to it but unfortunately this falls pretty flat. A small few of the cast were good, the guy playing Riff-Raff did quite well and I enjoyed watching him, and I did find seeing Tim Curry as the narrator with some odd Rosa Klebb type quite funny. But the woman playing Magenta just annoyed me as I've always loved Magenta and near enough all the people I've a seen playing her, obviously Pat Quinn as the original is my favourite because she is just fabulous, but the woman in this version just wasted the character, she gave off the impression she just thought "oh it's a small part so I'm not going to bother" and just turned up and did whatever. Janet was pretty good but Brad was more annoying than anything. And the biggie, Frank. Well though the character had some amazing costumes it was not Frank. Frank is a man in women's lingerie (hence the sweet transvestite) not a woman in lingerie. It does not work. It just contradicts itself. It was more like watching Grace Jones.

The visuals left much to be desired. It felt empty all the away through, like they just could not really be bothered so it lacked real life. Same goes for the music, it just lacked life and soul. The choreography was shabby and not done well really.

Over all really it just seemed drab, lifeless, and half arsed. Just watch the original or go watch it live, you will enjoy it more.

LOVE the new opening (re-envisioned) LOVE the supporting cast (especially Riff-Raff), and I was diving into the pool. . . great great great . . enjoying it. Like showing the audience. Loving the new music and dance I was ALL IN. . .until. . . um

Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The character needs to be BOLD and shocking and BOTH masculine AND feminine at the same time. Needs to be playful, violent, and sexual or the premise does not work. FnF needs to take command of the stage AND seduce everyone. In leather and fishnet stockings. The seduction is what MAKES the show.

Where was the raw sex appeal? The boldness, the Master toying with a mouse? The line, "Don't be upset by the way I look" fell flat with a tentative FnF wearing a red sequined dress from Golden Girls.