We have a redo with the mix master blaster... word!

     Hello folks and welcome to another installment of the Shadow Knows and tonight we have a really big show for you, really big. So let's give it up and have a warm welcome for what the Shadow knows today kiddies. So what does the Shadow know today true believers? Well what I know this day is quite shocking and most riveting. I was looking at the product label on a Razor Scooter and discovered this gold nugget of information. Apparently, are you ready for this? Apparently, this product moves when used! Say what? No way! Well I am glad to be able to pass this on to you all. If you use a Razor Scooter it will move. So be careful out there all you Shadow fans and beware the movement of the scooters muwahahaha. So any who, on to podbean.com and how I geeked. I have no notes as of yet for the show with Greg and the gang. So folks it will be as much a surprise to me as it is to you all. So come check us out for fun and surprises. Maybe you might even hear scooters actually moving. It will be truly suspenseful and awe inspiring. Be there or be square.

     So on to the topic at hand my fine shadowy friends. Today I wish to discuss the topic of movie remakes/reboots. Since the creation of movies there have been those who dare to remake them. One of the first I recall seeing in my youth was The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and was based on the Book I am Legend by Richard Matheson. The first adaptation of this book was Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and was remade again later with Will Smith In I am Legend. I have not seen Omega Man in years. I do remember that I loved this movie even though it was so different from my cherished Vincent Price rendition. I also liked the later Will Smith version, just not as much. For those who don't know the story is about a disease that ravages the Earth. Vincent Price, Charlton Heston, and Will Smith star as scientists who are immune to this plague. The plague itself turns humans animistic and allergic to the sun. In the end it is their blood that is the ultimate cure. The story itself deals with their living in a world all alone and trying to survive while searching for a cure. If you have not seen any of them I say give em a watch and find the Legend. Now this is just one example where a remake goes right, but there are many, many cases where it just goes horribly, horribly wrong (oh look I channeled Commandant Lasarde again... excellent). One that immediately springs into mind and with little effort is the Rob Zombie interpretation of the first two Halloween movies. These do not hold a candle to the originals. I applaud your efforts sir, but I assure you it was to no avail on Mr. Zombies part. Now I know some of you may have liked these movies and well that is your geek, but surely not mine. Another case in point was the 1998 release of Godzilla, The only great thing about that movie was that it ended. I remember thinking after I watched it how do I get that time back and the answer is NEVER!!! It was simply plain old horrible. It set the bar pretty low for the next one released this year. I have to say even though the story was a bit disjointed and I expected more from Bryan Cranston it was rather good and I dare say I liked it. I will give no spoilers since I am sure it is still playing somewhere. I will say go, sally forth, and see it. There are many more that spring to mind, but I will discuss here only 3 of the more recent releases that affect me. As a side note I wish to mention that I have no problems with a reboot as a whole and there are many great examples of great ones. The thing is when they go wrong it is often horribly wrong and nobody likes that. Now on to my regularly scheduled programming.

     I will start with the most recent of these and work my way back. For the most recent of these we look no further then Robocop. This movie is about policeman/family man Alex Murphy (played by the awesome Peter Weller) who is murdered by thugs in the line of duty (hehe I said duty for you dirty minded individuals). Because the city's law enforcement has been privatized, OCP the company that had the contract to uphold law in the city (Detroit, MI BTW) took Murphy's body and restored him to life as a cyborg (stating he was property, how nice). As Robocop, Murphy and his partner Anne Lewis (played by Nancy Allen) clean up crime and corruption in the city. This movie had 2 sequels, that did not get better as they went forward and I was glad when they ended. It also had a a TV series spin off (which I loved), a couple of cartoon spin offs, a TV miniseries, and a few comic titles. The stylization of this movie definitely hearkens to the 80's which spawned it. This is a really great flick that I could watch again and again. Now early this year a reboot was introduced to the world and I had only just recently had opportunity to watch it. Of this movie I must say this is another case of WTF the original is way better. Don't get me wrong. I love the effects, but the story telling was not there. Even the iconic line of the film "Dead or alive you're coming with me." felt forced and just thrown in. Michael Keaton is a wonderful actor, but his villain was not really developed well. You get no real sense of his character and he feels like a cardboard cut out. In the original his family believes he is dead, but in this version his wife makes all the decisions on what becomes of him. Now this part I did not mind, but again they did not follow it through with any real story telling with his family. His family was there and then they weren't and then they were. I dunno maybe I am just nuts. This is most likely the case. So I say look for yourselves and tell me if I am or am not. The choice is yours. The movie dynamics just don't work so much for me in this remake. They take away his whole good Irish cop and family man persona. They take it and stick it in the sewers with the rats and gators. That is just no place for such things. It is very stinky and scary down there. Have we degenerated so much as a society that these things no longer have value in film... blah I say.

     Next up for your really big funtertainment is Total Recall. In this 1990 film Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Douglas Quaid an Earthbound construction worker that dreams of going to the Mars colony. He decides since he can't afford to go. He will just go to ReKall where they will implant the memories of fun times there for him. As he gets underway for the procedure the doctors discover he has a memory cap and has been there already. They of course throw him out and erase his memories of being there. But this Shadow fans is where the joy ride begins as he finds out Sharon Stone is not really his wife, but rather his handler sent to watch him. He escapes her with his life, gets a message from himself and travels to Mars colony and has fun times with hookers and mutants. This movie finally ends with alien technology and an atmosphere on Mars. Over all I think for the time this is a fun movie and follows the original Phillip K Dick story (We can Remember it for you Wholesale) pretty well. Yes that is right folks. The same guy who gave us Bladerunner gave us Total Recall. Now in 2012, while apocalypse loomed over the world we got a reboot of this movie. It starred Colin Farrell in the role of Douglas Quaid and the very hot Kate Beckinsale as his handler/wife, with Jessica Biel and Bryan Cranston thrown in there for good measure. Now this Shadow fans is a wholesale reworking of the story down to even Phillip K Dicks version. I have to tell you though I loved it. There was no Mars and the world was polluted by war. The story takes place in the UK and Australia. Both being the only two inhabitable places on the planet. It kinda had a Judge Dredd feel in a way. Overall this movie was faced paced and told a really good story. Where the first movie was just a fun story to watch. This adaptation was not only fun, but was also creative and well done. What else can I say? Nuff said, so if you have not seen it go, run as fast as you can to your local netflix (hehe). 

     Finally we have the 1995 Sly Stallone release of comic book turned movie Judge Dredd. In this move Stallone plays Dredd an enforcer of the law. In the far flung future the world is in chaos. Because of this the governments decided to take justice out of the hands of the blind lady and put it into the hands of the individual... the judge. The judges were judge, jury, and executioner. They helped to return some sense of peace and order to our cursed Earth. As the story goes Dredd is framed for murder by his clone brother Rico. Rico (played by the awesome Armand Assante) is an ex judge who was basically a psychopath. It turns out there is a greater conspiracy within the Judge hierarchy and it is up to Dredd to bring things to light. Playing the role of comic relief is Herman Ferguson (played by Rob Schneider) who is forced to help Dredd along the way. Over all I find this to be another fun movie of the time. A lot of Judge Dredd fans hated this movie and rightly so. Since it did not do a good job of following the iconic features of the comic. I on the other hand, having not ever read the comic have no such prejudices. I loved the movie and have no real complaints. Now in 2012, while the world faced impending doom (fortunately we had the Super Friends to save us) we get a pretty sweet Dredd reboot. In this reboot Dredd is played by Karl Urban and is tasked with evaluating recruit Judge Cassandra Anderson (played by Olivia Thrilby). Anderson has psychic gifts, but has failed her judge aptitude tests. The powers that be feel she would make a great judge, but really they want her powers on the street. The chief justice decides to give this job to her toughest judge... Dredd. During the evaluation the two judges find themselves in the middle of a turf war headed by Madeline (Ma Ma) Madrigal (played by Lena Headley. This movie feels like Judge Dredd meets Dirty Harry and I think that is freaking sweet. For me this movie was all thumbs up. I loved the action, the effects, the sweet hardware, and the story wasn't half bad either. You have everything from crooked judges to the super drug slowmo to sweet minigun blazing shootouts. I loved this movie. So what are you waiting for? Go, go watch it.

     Well kiddies that is all the time we have this week for your old pal Shadow. Just remember reboots are a dangerous thing and if done correctly can give us a new wonderful approach to tell the story. Now if it is done incorrectly well we will just have to reboot the creator of the film right in the rear end. We have a nice bullseye right where the good lord split them. Any who I digress. What do you think Shadow fans? Are all reboots bad, real bad? I don't think so, but there are those who believe that all that is done before is cannon and therefore untouchable and I can respect that. Can you name some of your favorite reboots I haven't mentioned or even some of the worst stinkers? Do they all really float down here and if so do you really want to float with a deranged clown? Really inquiring minds want to know. So later gators and I will see you next time in the shadows.