So last week I got my DVD of Piranha (2010) and watched the film with both the commentary and without. I even watched the "Behind the Scenes" Feature which was also interesting. Director Alexandre Aja knew what he was doing when he made this movie. As he has said, the movie is a tribute to those campy B flicks of the 70's and 80's. That was the style he was going for, but was it one he achieved? Let's take a look......
So you have a movie like Piranha and based on the teaser and trailers that we saw, we knew it was going to be about a spring break massacre. Killer fish and partying kids? Come on, anyone can predict the outcome of that. Though in my honest opinion I don't think the trailers did a very good job of marketing the movie. The trailers made it look stupid, and even spoiled some parts like the ending for crying out loud.
The marketing for this movie didn't do it any justice, and that's why a lot of people including myself were thinking "Boy this looks retarded". Sure it does look stupid till you actually get up and go see it for yourself. I found that the movie was MUCH better than the trailer had made it out to be. Not the only reason I went and saw it back then, I was curious because I had read a lot of positive reviews and was thinking to myself, no this can't be right, surely they're mistaken. Anyways it was the extreme gore and suspense that kept this movie interesting. Also the cameo appearances of Richard Dreyfuss from JAWS and Christopher Lloyd brought something to the table. Yes so there was extreme gore, and boobs as some would point out, but in my honest opinion, more gore than boobs which is what horror fans want.
Moving on.......Story wise, Piranha didn't hold up well. Sure there were some cool characters but even they couldn't carry the story. In movies like this, there's really no room for one, you know what's going to happen so what is the point? Yes there is suspense build up, especially right before the massacre scene when the fish are swimming around the kids in the water. Definitely a creepy moment, and good way to make us afraid of going into the water again. The original Piranha was a parody of JAWS, then you had the 1995 made for TV remake, and now this one which had actually been written six years ago and no one took an interest in making it till much later. I've read the screen play actually although I can't remember if it was before or after seeing the movie in theatres. Was a nice adaption, though there were a lot of things in it that should have been kept in the film. Most of these turned out to be deleted scenes, and they are currently on youtube right now, just search for them and you'll see.
Again there were also some scenes included in the trailer, but not seen in the movie. I am hoping that somewhere down the line, Aja would release a director's cut of the movie, which would include these scenes as well as the deleted ones. Maybe like in a future collector's edition or something, just somethin to think about. Now if I were to rate this movie, I'd give it the same rating as I gave on IMDB. Seven out of the ten stars. I'll keep this rating till I do see the Director's Cut ;)
Now on to talk about the "Thing" prequel.
Since it is my favorite movie, a while back when I heard rumors of a remake, I was not happy at all, in fact I was pissed off. Kept thinking, why take a brilliant film and ruin it? A lot of other fans voiced their opinions over the idea of a remake too and I guess someone was listening because they changed it into a prequel which would take place at the Norwegian camp where the thing had originally been excavated and unleashed so to speak. Now I got my hands on the screen play for this movie as well and read it few months ago. My thoughts? Interesting, there are a lot of homages to JC's film, but its still able to hold up on its own. The characters have some interesting background to them, the overall plot isn't too bad though I would have personally changed a few things. (no pun intended) There's a few references to OutPost 31, so those stationed at the Norwegian camp are aware of the outpost's existence.
Now since this story takes place in the early 80's there are also a lot of references to that decade which is important cause in order for the movie to feel like it is in that time period, we as the audience need to be convinced. With what I read in the script, I think some of it sounds convincing enough, but we'll have to see if it has the same effect on screen.
It basically has a similar plot to the original "Thing From Another World" if ever it was a remake, it would be a remake of Howard Hawke's film.
The thing is discovered, it thaws out then wrecks havoc while assimilating the humans one by one. This time there's no MacReady to come to the rescue, there's a young paleontologist, Kate Lloyd who discovers that the thing can only imitate organic matter and cannot absorb or imitate metals, so when she finds a couple of tooth fillings on the floor in the bathroom, she knows someone is not who they claim to be.
A lot of people don't like the idea of a woman taking up the lead in this movie but after reading the script, Kate Lloyd sounds like an interesting character, she's the first to realize what the thing is capable of and also comes up with a method of figuring out who is still human and who could be the imitation.
Some would associate her as being the "Ripley" of the story, but I don't think so. She's really nothing like Ripley, she is her own character. So she has to kill off members of her team with a flamethrower? Anyone would do that in her place, strong or not. You know someone is no longer human, and just a perfect imitation of that person, you'd toast them too! Just because she's female doesn't make any difference. A female character doesn't have to be a Ripley stereotype in order to be strong.
Anyways, I'll post more about this movie later on along with something special I managed to attain.
The Thing prequel is being directed by
Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd
Release date? Sometime in October......I'll keep you posted
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