Thursday, September 22, 2011

Do We Really Need A Rebooted Scarface Movie?

It's a hell of a drug
Well heck yes -- that's guaranteed buckets bathtubs of money! The Scarface limited edition Blu-ray just hit stores, and air-brush artists everywhere have painted more rhinestone-encrusted denim jackets featuring Tony Montana on the back than the Earth presently has a need for. Solution? Reboot, redesign, resell.

But before Scarface purists get their collective panties in a twist regarding these recently announced plans by Universal to "update" Scarface -- and the movie seems to be definitely a project very loosely based on the basic plot of the 1983 film -- it is helpful to keep in mind that the cult movie itself is a loosely-based remake.

When the version of the Scarface we all know and love was announced in the early 1980s, there were some grumblings about it diverging plot-wise from the 1932 film Scarface, which featured Italian and Irish mobsters in Chicago. Could the public really embrace a new Scarface, one of Cuban descent, selling cocaine in Miami? And while the film opened to mixed reviews and so-so box-office, it gained later cult superstar status. And hence all the airbrushed Tony Montana portraits on denim.

So it would seem that there is an essential iconic, archetypal quality regarding the narrative of Scarface's rise and fall. Maybe this "updated" movie can capture that. You know, I never see enough of Ryan Gosling in the media lately, maybe this is the breakout role that can finally get him noticed.
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. I vote no. Just like the reboot/sequel to Lost Boys, and just like the upcoming reboot for Red Dawn- if it ain't broke, please please please don't fix it.
    I think this trend of rebreathers is an extension of the same phenomenon that gave us reality teevee. Basically, does writing new ideas really require too much effort- or are writers in general seeming to be viewed by folks upstairs as inconsequential to the creative process?
    I think when creative cultures reach a stalemate is when something big, bad, and brand-spankin' new explodes. We have retro fashions, reimagined film and teevee properties, sampled and resampled music, etc. Something big is going to happen soon, like how the colorful 60's blew up from the starch of the 50's, or how the Renaissance was a spiritual release from the black plaque and the Inquisition. Art is reaching a brick wall, and is soon to figure out a new way to swing the hammer.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)