jonathanconti

Most remakes are bad. But what about a remake of a bad movie? If you're honest with the original, it's not good. It's ridiculous. Yoga guy afraid to get in fights goes to a bar and cleans up town as a bouncer?! It was a stupid plot from the beginning, but the campy, ridiculous, over the top testosterone made it a cult classic. And rip Patrick Swayze, but don't tell me he was a good actor in that movie. He's a movie star doing movie star stuff.

Cut to the remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal and of course it's bad, but actually better than I expected. The plot makes more sense than the original. The fighting is ridiculous and over the top but why not? McGregor is so crazy and I'm here for it. People think it's bad acting (it is), that he's over the top crazy (he is), but I think it's brilliant. "Is there a world class UFC fighter out there that's over the top crazy? Like a guy that starts fight with buses full of other fighters?" Ya they found the craziest fighter ever and had him be crazy. It's hilarious and gives the fighting a touch of authenticity. I mean the guy was a two division champ. He can fight. It's like the writers were like, "let's have a movie star and a ufc star take a bunch of roids and fight each other everywhere. In a bar, on a boat, in the ocean." And that's the movie. Don't take it too seriously and if you're not a fight fan I'm guessing you're gonna hate it. But if you like watching fighting and not thinking for two hours, hey you might like it.

If this show was made by HBO it would've won every award and be considered a classic. Instead it came out on NBC, way ahead of its time when shows like CSI and Law and Order dominated prime time TV. And because of that no one watched it, and it was cancelled in the middle of its third season.

I watched this show when it came out and thought it was outstanding. And given the reviews it seems to have lasted the test of time artistically. It finally made it to Prime and of course people liked it and finally watched it. The Hannibal Lecter story is an old one and one with a lot of commercial success. On a platform like Max today I think the trailer would attract the right crowd, a younger crowd eager for a darker Lecter story. The biggest hurdle would be casting Lecter himself. A character Anthony Hopkins made so iconic, it's hard to imagine someone else as him.

Boy did Mads nail Hannibal. I'm one of those weirdos that read the books and he seamlessly brings some of Hopkins iconic mannerisms together with how Hannibal was originally in the books, and wow... Again, had this come out on HBO I think he would've won every award. I don't want to blaspheme, but he's probably better than Hopkins. Written perfectly as a background character to Will Grahams story which is exactly how Hannibal should be.

The one Hannibal flop was the Hopkins driven sequel to Silence of the Lambs, "Hannibal." In it, Hannibal is the main character, with his every move detailed. What happens is Hannibal takes on a comical unbelievability. Seeing him cut off a guys skull and eat his brains. Come on. Hannibal Lecter works better in the dark background. Letting the audience imagination fill in the details of his grisly crimes. And that's how the TV show portrays him.

The cast is amazing, truly superb. I give it a 9 because I can see where it could've been better if not made for network TV. And because of the early cancellation season 3 is definitely weaker than season 1 & 2. I'll save my ten in hopes they can continue this story somewhere. But it has to have Mads.

I can't find a thing wrong with this movie. I have one of those girlfriends who never watches movies, falls asleep 10 minutes into everything. She enjoyed this just as much as me and we got through it in one sitting, then chatted about it for 30 minutes after it ended. If you're bored then you're missing it. The first 30 minutes are boring, but on purpose. This guys life is boring. Being an assassin is boring. But from there the movie steadily picks up and unfolds at a pace only the best filmmakers can pull off. The script and character development is so good. Even minor characters are flushed out and peeled back through context instead of dialogue. I hate when characters explain their actions and motivations through terrible dialogue. For example, character A saying to character B, "I have to (action), because (motivation)." Let their actions and the world around them explain their motivations and then let the characters act accordingly how they naturally would. That's what this script does. So by the time you see minor characters for the first time, you already understand so much about them. I loved it, thought it was genius.