Wicker Man - Ritual des Bösen

If there's ever a poll for the most shameful remake of all time, LaBute's film will have a certain medal position. A truly dreadful slap in the face to all admirers of Hardy's iconic original. A film with no atmosphere, no suspense and stupidly chatty, with a few cheap scares and where the hell are the singing and dancing numbers, which were an essential element of Hardy’s original and gave it an unmistakable appeal??!! Moreover, the whole concept of La Bute's remake is bad and tramples on the essence of Hardy's work. La Bute turned the originally bigoted and fatherly constable into an action hero (played by Cage) with a gun in his hand and some kicks, plus a "Commando" parental motive. The original constable's fumbling, astonishment and faint suspicion is gone (Cage's policeman is a very determined man and has no doubt about the evil committed), as is the fundamental surprise of the twist (the burning is mentioned from the very beginning ??!!). The action bees and the same annoying flashback to the police officer's traumatic experience repeated several times (what a cliché!) are just icing on the cake. La Bute, I love your debut, but this is a piece of shit! PS: I almost fell out of my chair at Cage's kick to Leelee Sobieski's face, relieved laughter, comedy... (08.10.2006)

A scripturally-neutered remake that completely disrespects the basic premise of the original film and bases the entire plot on a cheap crime-thriller that is sorely lacking in the mysterious atmosphere created by strange folk-song interludes and witty dialogue full of the conflicting mindsets of a forged Christian and a pagan community. Cage's cop Edward Malus is just a dry psychological sketch of all the menial clichés (the trauma of being on duty, the constantly recurring flashbacks), and at no point does the director dare to deviate from this template. Out of respect (in this case, however, it is a proper mockery) for the original, it sticks to the original outcome, but the final explanation is (like most of the "thematic" dialogues) just a bunch of pseudo-philosophical bullshit about harmony with nature. Unfortunately (not only because of the overacting actors but also because of the overall stupidity of the performance), it makes your ears bleed with every second word. Cage must have raked in most of the $40 million budget for his role because the poetically picturesque cinematography comes across as very cheap kitsch and overall it's a lame piece of trash that makes most people avoid the original rather than be impressed by it. (13.10.2006)

Für diejenigen, die nicht mit dem ursprünglichen Film vertraut sind, handelt es sich hierbei nur um einen sehr schlechten Thriller. Für Kenner des Originalfilms ist das neue Ritual eine absolute Beleidigung des Originals und ein sinnloses Spiel, das auf Papier wohl nicht funktionieren kann. Neil LaBute ist ein schrecklicher Drehbuchautor und ein schwacher Regisseur dazu. Seine Führung der Schauspieler ist schrecklich. Dennoch wird dieser Film vor allem deswegen langsam zum bizarren Guilty Pleasure bei einigen Zuschauern. Die Interaktion von Nicholas Cage mit digitalen Bienen ist mittlerweile legendär (Achtung, es gibt eine Version des Films, in der diese beste Szene leider herausgeschnitten ist). Im Übrigen ist diese verrückte Darbietung von Cage das einzige, was im Ritual unterhält. Und ich verstehe wirklich nicht, warum jemand in diesem Schlamassel einen Gastauftritt haben wollte. (30.09.2018)