Jacob's Ladder

Having watched the original movie of Jacobs Ladder I really didn't expect much from or even expected this movie was needed. How right I was. From the start your greeted with just confusing dialogue after confusing scenes. I just could not get into such a poor made movie that had no excitement like the original that was very well written and directed. I felt we the audience where being taken for idiots. Sometimes I would say give it a chance. But for this it wants flushing down the toilet. It gets 2 Stars only because it looks decent quality wise just not executed at all in a good manner. Big thumbs down

I wasn't expecting much from this, but I was intrigued from the start. You don't have to be a genius to work out the twist, but it was good. I thought all of the actors did a great job with a sometimes challenging genre. I care for people who've done terrible things when they've been in psychosis, and then come to and they're broken people after they realise what they've done, so this gave me insight into ptsd, trauma and mental health. I really liked the special effects, particularly the wings scene, it was beautiful. Update.. 3 days later. So, I watched the original. And Jesus Christ this film pales in comparison. I was obviously unprepared and it has literally taken me two days to watch it, as I couldn't physically get passed the dance scene. Those who haven't seen the original, and watch this first like I did, will wonder if the criticism of this version is warranted. But I implore you to watch the original. It's vicious, disturbing, visceral, beautiful and will stay with you for days, if not months. I get it now, purists. Jesus do I get it. It's frustrating that the most potent and astonishing line in the original (said by Louis, the chiroprator) that Jacob uses to let go of his attachments, just gets dropped in, at one of the weirdest points in the film in this version, making it appear tone deaf and badly photoshopped somehow. This version now appears PG in comparison, and spoon fed. In the original we are buckled in and thrown around the rusty, blood splattered rollercoaster in the dark, with occasional strobe lights, feeling as if we are right next to Jacob, wondering if he's dead or insane. There are no clear answers and no cheap thrills here, and we have to develop our own insights. With this version, it's wrapped very neatly, to the point that half way through i comprehended the twist, like a murder she wrote. It should have been released under a different name, yet drawing on some aspects of the original. I would imagine it's score would have got up to 6. For those of you reviewing this and making vile rascist comments about the actors ethnicities? GTFOA...unbelievable! That has zero bearing on why this film hasn't impressed me..at all.

Here we go again, another remake. I have to say, Hollywood seems stuck in an originally rut. Granted, Adrian Lyne's 1990 thriller did not do well upon its release and was by no means a box office smash (according to Wikipedia it had a 26 million dollar draw on a 25 million dollar budget) however, it has fallen into cult status among film lovers. With its unique, nightmarish cinematography and editing, ingenious story line and awesome casting (the Danny Aiello scene in which he explains his thoughts on angels and demons to Tim Robbins, was classic), it kept you on the edge of your seat. I remember watching this movie and leaving the theater thinking, now that was a psychological thriller. I thought Fatal Attraction, Lyne's Academy nominated box office hit was good, but somewhat predictable, and Jacob's Latter was the better film. The original Jacob's Latter was not predictable and seemed more, engrossing. David Rosenthal's version seems as if it wants to be a unique film in the narrative, with a similar plot to the original but with some key factors changed. However, in doing this, he pulls elements from the first film, such as the flashes of horrific and grotesque imagery, among other things into the story, as if to remind us, for some reason, it's a remake. Along with the plot changes, which fail to elevate or heighten the new version really in any way, it lacks the suspense or dread its predecessor delivered so masterfully. Although I do think Michael Ealy is a great actor and his efforts are worth mentioning, in comparison to Lyne's film, it misses the mark. Remaking original movies has become the norm these days in Hollywood and it has become a sad affair. I know there has to be fresh young writers out there with great material of their own. Unfortunately they seem to be at the mercy of the executives who would rather go with a re-hash than take a chance on an original idea. The bottom line is: stop doing remakes Hollywood! These may be good ideas in some cases, i.e. the big budget hits of yester-year (mainly Disney), but hit and miss, at best, for underrated gems like the original. Pass this one up and watch the classic.

Let's get this out of the way first; the original Jacob's Ladder is a great and unique film that by no means needs an updated version. If you want to watch a great version of it, just go watch the original.

Story: While it is a remake, it is not a shot for shot reiteration. Several key story elements have been changed up, but many of the scenes reappear in a different context. The problem with this is that some of them feel shoved in to pay fan service to the original. The changes to the story and characters are at times major, and it feels like they are trying to tell a similar story just with vastly different parameters and it doesn't quite fit right.

Acting: The three main actors do a very serviceable job in their respected roles, however Michael Ealy really wasn't able to fully capture the same insane paranoia that Tim Robbins brought.

Production: The cinematography, while not bad, was lacking creativity and polish. The sound design was solid throughout. The effects on the other hand were cheesy and repetitious. They drastically overused the sped up head and camera shaking effect, while the cgi would have looked like it was 10 years old, 10 years ago. Seriously, half-assed practical effects would have looked much better than this shoddy cgi.

Entertainment: Well, there was little. It honestly felt like one of the most generic and predictable films that I have seen in a long time. I understand that it's difficult to make a remake unique, but this iteration has no heart, enjoyment, or identity to it at all and it just falls flat.

Overall: It's not the worst movie that you could watch, but there's really no reason to watch it. It's bland, mediocre, and the only thing scary about it are the bad special effects. Like I said before, if you want to watch a great version of it, just go watch the original. A generous 4/10

I feel sorry for the filmmakers here. The original is such a classic, and so we'll acted; it achieves very singular levels of story, atmosphere, and performance. The remake was always doomed to pale in comparison. That said, I was willing to give it a shot and judge it on its own merits. What I found was a story devoid of character enriching beats and a tired visual style that was at its best when it tried, however infrequently, to approximate the original. I never once felt drawn in to the muddied predicament of the characters and in fact became increasingly annoyed with the plots tendency to drift away from the core mystery in favor of tired paranoia driven conspiracy tropes where no one is who you thought they were and the protagonist's family, friends, and lovers are out to get them. The denounment is pure laziness. I had to rewatch the original the next day to cleanse my pallet.