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glitter_n_goreFor those of you who don't know: the original Jacob's Ladder, released in 1990 and directed by Adrian Lyne, is my favorite horror movie. One of my favorite movies of all time, period. I'm also a big fan of the Silent Hill videogame franchise, which was hugely influenced by this movie. So I was bound to go into the remake a little biased.
Honest opinion: It's . . . fine. Not great, not terrible. Just . . . fine. A little boring and predictable, maybe. But the acting is solid across the board, the cinematography is clean, the pacing is balanced, and it kept my attention for the duration of its runtime.
However. Because I am coming at this as a fan of the original, I was definitely paying WAY more attention than I needed to.
If you haven't seen the original Jacob's Ladder, you should know that it includes a "twist." Except not exactly. One of the points of discussion when this remake was announced featured speculation over whether the new movie would also have a twist, and whether it would be the same twist.
Well, the remake does have a twist, but not the same one. I say "twist" loosely because the title kind of gives it away. If you know what the phrase "Jacob's Ladder" refers to, you already know what's up. More to the point, the original movie doesn't make much of an effort to hide it from you. The titular character (played by Tim Robbins) is in a state of denial and confusion about his present reality. The surreal atmosphere and confusion is because you see everything from his point of view as he struggles to come to terms with it.
The remake ignores this. There is a twist, and the central character (here played by Michael Ealy) does experience war flashbacks, and there is a drug used by war veterans with some unpleasant side effects, but that's about where the similarities end. Which is especially odd when so much of the iconic imagery and symbolism that makes the original stand out is included here without the context that made it necessary.
It's also much more conventional in its story structure than the original, complete with jump scares, CGI special effects, and flashbacks that fall more or less where you'd expect when the main character has recurring PTSD nightmares. Again: not terrible. But nowhere near the psychological nightmarescape of the original.
1990 Jacob's Ladder has a dizzying, nonlinear structure, jumping backward and forward in time. At you first think you're seeing Present Day + Flashbacks, but it quickly becomes clear things aren't that simple. Are there four timelines happening at once, with Jacob being pulled back and forth between them? Is he having PTSD nightmares that send him back into the war? Is the Present Day timeline a dream, and he's actually still on the battlefield the whole time?
There is a loose consensus among fans as to What's Really Going On, which I won't reveal here, but I will say this: the so-called twist? Isn't so much a twist as a journey. It's the catalyst that moves Jacob from one state of existence to another. The Jacob in the remake doesn't get to take that journey, which leaves it feeling incomplete. I almost wonder if it would work better as its own, distinct work, with a different title, and without the sparse nods to the original.
The above is my favorite line from the original, and a big reason why this movie means so much to me. But if no one in your movie is struggling to make peace with their own death? Then it doesn't mean anything at all.
Honest opinion: It's . . . fine. Not great, not terrible. Just . . . fine. A little boring and predictable, maybe. But the acting is solid across the board, the cinematography is clean, the pacing is balanced, and it kept my attention for the duration of its runtime.
However. Because I am coming at this as a fan of the original, I was definitely paying WAY more attention than I needed to.
If you haven't seen the original Jacob's Ladder, you should know that it includes a "twist." Except not exactly. One of the points of discussion when this remake was announced featured speculation over whether the new movie would also have a twist, and whether it would be the same twist.
Well, the remake does have a twist, but not the same one. I say "twist" loosely because the title kind of gives it away. If you know what the phrase "Jacob's Ladder" refers to, you already know what's up. More to the point, the original movie doesn't make much of an effort to hide it from you. The titular character (played by Tim Robbins) is in a state of denial and confusion about his present reality. The surreal atmosphere and confusion is because you see everything from his point of view as he struggles to come to terms with it.
The remake ignores this. There is a twist, and the central character (here played by Michael Ealy) does experience war flashbacks, and there is a drug used by war veterans with some unpleasant side effects, but that's about where the similarities end. Which is especially odd when so much of the iconic imagery and symbolism that makes the original stand out is included here without the context that made it necessary.
It's also much more conventional in its story structure than the original, complete with jump scares, CGI special effects, and flashbacks that fall more or less where you'd expect when the main character has recurring PTSD nightmares. Again: not terrible. But nowhere near the psychological nightmarescape of the original.
1990 Jacob's Ladder has a dizzying, nonlinear structure, jumping backward and forward in time. At you first think you're seeing Present Day + Flashbacks, but it quickly becomes clear things aren't that simple. Are there four timelines happening at once, with Jacob being pulled back and forth between them? Is he having PTSD nightmares that send him back into the war? Is the Present Day timeline a dream, and he's actually still on the battlefield the whole time?
There is a loose consensus among fans as to What's Really Going On, which I won't reveal here, but I will say this: the so-called twist? Isn't so much a twist as a journey. It's the catalyst that moves Jacob from one state of existence to another. The Jacob in the remake doesn't get to take that journey, which leaves it feeling incomplete. I almost wonder if it would work better as its own, distinct work, with a different title, and without the sparse nods to the original.
"If you're frightening of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see Devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the Devils are really Angels, freeing you from the Earth."
The above is my favorite line from the original, and a big reason why this movie means so much to me. But if no one in your movie is struggling to make peace with their own death? Then it doesn't mean anything at all.