THE WICKER MAN (2006)

I used to be a massive proponent of the remake. From John Carpenter’s The Thing, to Chuck Russel’s The Blob, even stuff like the Robin Williams Flubber one, or the Nutty Professor starring Eddie Murphy… but that’s all changed, I’m afraid.

Once movie companies realised that something they had assumed all along, that cinema goers are idiots just dying to see not a good film, but a license they are familiar with, they started taking advantage. Disney are probably the main offenders with their live action remakes of their own animated properties, some which aren’t ’live action’ at all but there is such a glut of unnecessary remakes that between it, comic movies, Star Wars and movies based on books by Steven King, there is barely anything new at the cinema at all anymore.

The very worst of these, or at the very least, one of the films that features high in the list of the worst of these is Neil LaBute’s remake of Robin Hardy’s magnificent 1973 film The Wicker Man. In it’s defence, it is beautiful shot and the female cast are amazing, but Nicolas Cage’s role as the male lead feels like an invasion into quality.

Hang on, I’m getting ahead of myself here.

The Wicker Man (2006) tells of police officer Edward Malus (Nicolas Cage) who has been invited by his ex-fiancée, Willow (Kate Beahan) to the island she lives on to investigate the disappearance of her daughter, Rohan (Erika-Shaye Gair). What he finds there though is a matriarchal cult that has an active disdain of his sex, and are very much in tune with the bees and their hives that they tend to upon the island.

He starts his investigation but more and more feels as though he is being deceived by the women, including Sister Beech (Diane Delano) who runs the inn, both Sisters Rose and Thorn (both played by Molly Parker) and after being stung by a bee, of which he is deathly allergic to, the local doctor, Dr. Moss (Francis Conroy).

He eventually gets to meet the one who is in charge of the island, Sister SummersIsle (Ellen Burstyn), but he feels even she is not being honest with him and they are all impeding his investigation.

What is the secret of the island? Is he really there to investigate a girl’s disappearance or are more sinister plots at play?

This unfortunately, is the film that turned Cage from being a competent actor in roles suited to his acting style, to a meme, something he has more or less played off ever since… even to the point when I told non-horror fans of my intention to do this review, it was met with ‘The bees… THE BEEEEEEEEEES!!’ The meme-ification of Cage has even resulted in a film dedicated more-or-less to it in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a film that I feel pulls the piss out of Cage to his bare face.

He’s getting paid and he’s getting exposure so why would he be bothered by that?

In LaBute’s favour, as I previously stated, this film is beautifully shot and has some outstanding set pieces that are like paintings of midwestern American landscapes. He wrote and directed the film and some of the decisions made with the script just seemed ‘Hollywooded’ with romantic links rather than simply a police officer performing his duty. I guess with the policeman being particular to the states and having no power in a different state makes sense due to jurisdiction, but it feels ingenuous.

The story that LaBute has crafted is very much showing that Cage’s intrusion into the matriarchal society is not welcome certainly feels like a man has written something that is supposed to be perceived having some feminist roots, but at no point does it ring true, and in actual fact, the women of the island seem cruel in their command of the society rather than fair, and giving we the viewer no opportunity to be sympathetic.

I’m a fan of Nicolas Cage! Hell, I wouldn’t have a whole month dedicated to him on my site if I didn’t have some kind of affection for him, but I know that his acting style is all about hysteria. He’s the kooky-eyed madman in every film he’s in, that’s his schtick, but it’s hard to replace the pious subtlety of Edward Woodward’s performance from the first film in that manner. It’s not just that though; Woodward’s low-key performance would have worked here really well, but Cage’s performance is arrogant and unpleasant. He treats the entire populace of the island with utter disdain when it’s supposed to be suspicion. It just doesn’t work. LaBute’s intention was possibly to make him seem so intrusive but it comes across as unlikable and abrasive.

I can’t see in this film where my sympathy is supposed to lie: the suspicious and unlikable women of the island, the jerk stranger in a strange land or the poor child who has disappeared, who we don’t really get to know.

It’s at this stage I must point out how awfully obvious the use of the name ‘Malus’ is, both with its use of the ‘male’ sound and the fact that it’s Latin for ‘harmful’, and the hamfisted tribute to Edward Woodward in Malus’ first name and Willow’s surname. Unnecessary and, dare I say it, amateurish.

Sadly, this does nothing to defend the honour of good remakes, and is a terrible shame as there are some great opportunities for some great female characters that are just overwhelmed by Cage’s descent into an Instagram meme.

Extras: A total of three extras on this disc.

Cast and Crew commentary is with LaBute, Lynette Meyer (Costume designer), Joel Plotch (Editor), Beahan and Sobieski. It’s a pretty thorough and interesting commentary. It is interesting insomuch as the unusual decisions that were made with character motivations and some other ideas that don’t work in the slightest.

Alternate ending. Meh.

There are also trailers for Ghost Rider and Perfect Stranger.

Film:2/10

Extras:

Rewatchability: 0/10

Purchased from JB Hifi