joelherro

Some would say, if that's the case, what's the point in a remake? Of that, I can understand, and having seen and loved the original, I was skeptical about a remake. However, I feel rather than make a lame remake, they have opted to make a new horror movie, based on similar concepts, but hoping to stand on its own merits. Thinking in those terms, I'd say it succeeds.

I'm not going to bother outlining the plot, if you're reading this, you're sufficiently interested already. Where the original basks in garish colour, this movie is almost entirely filmed in washed out sepia tones. One beef I do have is that a lot of modern horror movies go for the video clip style scares, where they show rapid cuts of nightmarish horror and scary/crazy images, reminiscent of video clips by death metal bands like Cradle of Filth and Behemoth, instead of subtle and/or real scares. This movies abounds in that kind of stuff. The ending is an interesting twist I won't give away.

My advice is, if you love the original movie, then keep an open mind and try and think of this as something altogether different, and if you haven't seen the original, then watch this, take from it what you will and then try getting the original movie to compare against.

First off, I must say, I'm a huge fan of Luc Besson. I have loved virtually everything he's ever done and even named my first-born son Leon. Having said that, this movie seems to lack the style his other movies do. Yes, there's plenty of action and yes, the main actress is hot, but where his other movies seem to shine (apart from the action sequences, awesome musical scores and outrageous costume department) is the dialogue and chemistry between the characters. Another reviewer wrote that this movie seems to be directed by more than one person. I totally agree. While there's flashes of Luc Besson's touch here and there, the majority of the movie seems disjointed, as if the directed didn't know where he was going with this movie and decided to let an understudy have the reins for half of it. It's not a bad movie, just doesn't reach the heights of any of his other movies in the last...well forever.