If last week was the week of excellent choices, this week features the flip side of that. We have a collection of remakes and copycats that no one was interested in. So let’s meet the contestants:
Fantastic Four
Directed by: Josh Trank
With: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell
Heads up: The origins story of Fantastic Four, where four young outsiders teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways. This is one of the most maligned films of the year and it was even called the worst comic film of all time. It has disaster written all over it, so avoid it and save your AED35.
Vacation
Directed by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein
With: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, and Chris Hemsworth
Heads up: In this new iteration of Vacation, Rusty Griswold, the son from the 1983 “classic”, takes his own family on a road trip to Walley World in order to spice things up with his wife and reconnect with his sons. Critics and viewers were lukewarm on this remake, and since it’s an R-rated raunchy comedy, it’s likely that the funny parts from the red band trailer (pun intended) will be censored in the UAE anyway, so may be you should just wait and see it on DVD.
Grizzly
Directed by: David Hackl
With: James Marsden, Thomas Jane, Piper Perabo, and Billy Bob Thornton
Heads up: The story of two estranged brothers who reunite at their childhood home in the Alaskan wild. They set out on a two-day hike and are stalked by an unrelenting grizzly bear. This reminds me a lot of The Edge from the 90’s, but nowhere as good. So despite the good cast, I don’t think you should bother.
Diabolical
Directed by: Alistair Legrand
With: Ali Larter, Arjun Gupta, and Patrick Fischler
Heads up: The story of a single mother and her two young children who are tormented by a presence in their quiet suburban home. It looks like a knockoff of The Conjuring only less interesting. Don’t go there!
Brothers
Directed by: Karan Malhotra
With: Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, and Jackie Shroff
Heads up: Bollywood remake of Gavin O’Connor’s brilliant Warrior, where a father trains his young son to fight in an MMA tournament. A path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother. You could give it a shot if you like either of the leads, but I would just watch (or re-watch) the original instead.
