The Christmas movie season is right around the corner, which tends to be one of the most prosperous times for Hollywood. Almost every film has their hopes for a successful run, except for one film in particular.
That film is Point Break, which is the remake of the 1991 classic action flick. With the trailers being met with little to no interest and early tracking being quite poor, this remake pretty much seems dead on arrival. As far as the Hollywood formula of success goes, this film surprisingly hits a lot of the key checkmarks. It’s got the name recognition of a classic actioner, along with the film being a relatively modern and accessible remastering that would appeal to this generation.
The problem being, it seems that formula no longer pertains to a successful film anymore. Audiences are starting to shift away from the remake craze, with films like Pan, Poltergeist, and Secret in their Eyes failing to leave their mark at the box office. For observers of most remakes over the past few years, this is honestly great news to hear.
Hollywood in a lot of ways have been exploiting audiences with these lackadaisical remakes. Instead of focusing on actually making a good product, studio heads instead have focused on what property would sell the best to the modern age, then finding out how to sell it to audiences.
The prime example of this was Clash of the Titans. Based off the flawed, yet admirable Ray Harryhausen original, the new version spotlighted flashy visual effects in its well-edited, gritty trailer. Once people saw the film however, they realized how soulless the product was compared to the original. Marred by a lack of heart and dreadfully lazy 3D effects, this was the first major remake to point out this retched Hollywood system.
Since then, there have been several half-hearted remakes that have thrived at the box office, but that number seems to be thankfully dwindling. Audiences are starting to realize that name recognition alone is not enough to make a good movie, as they have been much stinger in supporting these remakes.
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Will remakes ever be dead in Hollywood? Not really, but that is not exactly a bad statement. There have been a fair share of great remakes over the years, such as True Grit, Let Me In, and The Departed, with filmmakers coming from a place of inspiration and wanting to make a worthy re-imagining. With audiences making a bold statement against the current remake factory that is Hollywood, hopefully more studios will be obliged to try harder and make the best possible film. Who knows, maybe Point Break might be a step in the right direction?
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