Are all remakes garbage?

Countless years we’ve had garbage regurgitations of film after film and I think most of us are more sceptical when we hear about a new remake of a classic. So I pose the question: are all remakes a complete utter waste of time?

We’ve got an unlimited amount of classics with a guideline of what makes a great film but can also pinpoint its flaws whether that be from a technical standpoint or plot wise, so where exactly does it go wrong with these remakes? For one there’s a lack of passion. Call Silent Hill what you want but at least there was a clear interest on Christophe Gans behalf from the very start, considering how insistent he was on getting the rights from Konami to make the film. It’s not a masterpiece but it stays true to the game and gives the fans of the game what they want. That’s what we’re missing from remakes, they’re treated as very evident soulless cash grabs from all parties involved. From its bad acting to completely going off base from what the original’s purpose or even creating a purpose of its own, we can clearly see there was no real motive for this other than the product being profitable.

I for one stood by the scepticism having seen enough awful remakes and considering the influx of them these past few years especially from a certain company (cough Disney cough), I had pretty much written them off. But in October of 2021 I thought, what better way to catch up with an old friend than watching the newest blockbuster? And to my surprise I was astounded. That blockbuster being Dune. To give a little context on Dune, the original was released in 1984 and directed by David Lynch and it’s…notoriously bad to say the least. Dune flopped at the box office, with a budget of 45 million it only managed to gross 30.9 million and was completely spat on by critics, Roger Ebert notably calling it “An incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion into the murkier realms of one of the most confusing screenplays of all time.” I mean how could you possibly narrow 10 hours worth of material into a 2 hour film successfully?

However Dune surprisingly doesn’t exactly fit the status quo of remakes. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely quite a few evident cons such as; concepts of the worlds not being explained in enough detail for the audience to fully understand, not enough character development, laughable action choreography & one of its biggest flaws; it’s excessive prolepsis. It takes up 35% of the movie (probably too generous of an estimate) which by the way doesn’t even take place within this film, which is a whole different issue for a different day.

But one thing you can always expect from a Villeneuve film is beautiful cinematography, so props to him & Greig Fraser. It’s the selling point of the film to me, every scene was captivating due to it, the lines between cgi and props & sets were seamless. I think I favour it a lot due to its slight similarities to Mad Max: Fury Road which by far has one of the best cinematography within the last decade (in my very humble opinion). You can clearly see the dedication put towards this film, there’s clear passion from all departments which makes the viewing all the more enjoyable.

Due to its long run time and slower pacing (in comparison to other action films) I didn’t know how likeable it’ll be for a mainstream audience. It’s a remake to a relatively unknown film so I was sceptical on how well it’d do financially. Villeneuve ran into the same issue with Blade Runner 2049 which resulted in its flop within the box office. On top of that I don’t entirely agree with films being two parters as it usually leads to one part, mainly the first feeling incomplete, which is exactly how it felt. Mockingjay & Breaking Dawn are notable examples that fall to this, very rarely does it work.

It’s refreshing to see a film with artistic cinematography and despite its minimal action it does it justice. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives for me and would recommend it to all.

With all this being said, I don’t think we should completely write off remakes or you may just end up missing an outstanding piece of art.