The remake did NOT follow beat-for-beat the same plot as the original, unless you are just making a generalization. ( Why change Ren coming from Boston in the Remake? Didn't Chicago work? ) To the Remake's credit, they established viscerally the crash / death scene, then the heartfelt, grieving sermon of the pastor. Good decision. Not necessarily better, because both beginnings work well. The Original's beginning was helpful to see Lithgow's portrayal of a very fiery, passionate pastor who was hard set against any outside corruptions that could lead to further horrors in their town. Which wasn't played up so passionately in the Remake. The Original's take on that was more realistic. Also, the Original had some rather artistic scenes such as at home where Ariel was trying to connect over and over with her father who was busy working on the typewriter. The acting, lighting, writing were all strong. It actually was quite touching to watch. I truly felt for her. The pastor's wife in the original had strong silence about her, with some good writing to show for it. Wiest's subtle acting with gentle, loving spine as preacher's wife was more interesting than the narrower scope of MacDowell's character. Wasn't bad, just not as much depth to her. Lastly, Teller in the Remake at the end looked seriously bad@ss in his dance moves. Credit to him, but discredit to the writing where he develops very quickly from nothing. The Original showed very gradual progress, which was very realistic. Overall: The Original had better writing, acting, cinematography, character development. The Remake had the better dancing. Tip of the hat to the Original.
I read they changed his backstory because the actor had a boston accent and they liked it. I personally like everything about the new one but i really think they missed the mark on Ren, the new giy just doesnt have the charisma, and he really seemed to phone in the angry dance. (The out of place song didnt help)
The remake did NOT follow beat-for-beat the same plot as the original, unless you are just making a generalization. ( Why change Ren coming from Boston in the Remake? Didn't Chicago work? ) To the Remake's credit, they established viscerally the crash / death scene, then the heartfelt, grieving sermon of the pastor. Good decision. Not necessarily better, because both beginnings work well. The Original's beginning was helpful to see Lithgow's portrayal of a very fiery, passionate pastor who was hard set against any outside corruptions that could lead to further horrors in their town. Which wasn't played up so passionately in the Remake. The Original's take on that was more realistic. Also, the Original had some rather artistic scenes such as at home where Ariel was trying to connect over and over with her father who was busy working on the typewriter. The acting, lighting, writing were all strong. It actually was quite touching to watch. I truly felt for her. The pastor's wife in the original had strong silence about her, with some good writing to show for it. Wiest's subtle acting with gentle, loving spine as preacher's wife was more interesting than the narrower scope of MacDowell's character. Wasn't bad, just not as much depth to her. Lastly, Teller in the Remake at the end looked seriously bad@ss in his dance moves. Credit to him, but discredit to the writing where he develops very quickly from nothing. The Original showed very gradual progress, which was very realistic. Overall: The Original had better writing, acting, cinematography, character development. The Remake had the better dancing. Tip of the hat to the Original.
I read they changed his backstory because the actor had a boston accent and they liked it. I personally like everything about the new one but i really think they missed the mark on Ren, the new giy just doesnt have the charisma, and he really seemed to phone in the angry dance. (The out of place song didnt help)