Another threesome of news updates I posted on MS, one of them less than two hours old:
http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154135/nederlandse_regisseur_voor_remake_the_birds
http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154127/donofrio_speelt_schurk_jurassic_world
http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154091/adam_driver_in_beeld_als_star_wars_schurk
Two bits of news appear almost identical except for the difference in names. Two bad guys cast (one close, at least) for major tentpole movies, and one director hired to direct a much dreaded remake of a much loved classic film. A Dutch director redoing a genre classic sounds eerily familiar to The Thing fiasco from only a few years back, where a rookie Dutchman (Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.) with hardly any directing experience got to direct a movie few people were looking forward to anyway. Needles to say that movie flopped: in fact, it lasted only two weeks in Dutch theaters. Was it the director or was it the idea of the remake on its own that made people opt for screening different fare? Probably a combination of both. Nevertheless, history now seems to be repeating itself, except the movie being remade is an even bigger classic from a truly legendary director. The project had been in the work for many years but nobody really dared to get it fired up until now. I'm not surprised, considering the producers involved. Michael Bay for instance, whose name alone should make people think twice about this film (will the birds explode?). Two other producers attached have been involved with nearly all of the recent remakes of various Eighties' horror franchises (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), all exercises in blatant redundancy. That's also not a good sign, considering The Birds is not that kind of horror flick, despite retaining a certain horrific element that does have the potential for bloody mayhem. Van Rooijen seems sure to take on more than he can handle, but unlike Van Heijningen, he does have more credits under his belt. Creating and directing the acclaimed Dutch TV series Penoza is probably his best card to play (I wouldn't know whether it's any good because I rarely watch Dutch series), though he has also done a few moody thrillers in the same vein as The Birds. Nevertheless, in all other respects he seems like yet another example of a foreign director being hired to direct an unneccessary, unwanted remake of a well remembered film that American directors won't touch for obvious reasons (José Padilha's RoboCop serves as the most recent adequate comparison). Time will tell whether Van Rooijen will do any better than those that went to Hollywood before him and came back with their tails tucked between their legs, instead of merrily continuing to exploit their success on home soil.
Two villains cast. One to battle dinosaurs (or is it vice versa?) and one to tackle Jedi. I cannot recall Adam Driver from seeing him in Lincoln (it was only a small part), but he certainly has a distinctive face. Comparing his upcoming role to the iconic Darth Vader is total studio rubbish of course, since nobody will ever come close to that again. They shouldn't even try and just go in their own direction, but that's not something I consider J.J. Abrams capable of doing. And when Abrams says Driver was his first choice, I tend togo in 'I don't care mode' straight away. Turning down great actors like Hugo Weaving and Michael Fassbender in favor of this guy is yet another telltale sign of Abrams' rampant mental instability. But admittedly I might just not have seen enough of Driver's past performances to make a balanced decision on whether he's right for joining the Dark Side. I am very likely clouded by my strong dislike for Abrams, who after raping Star Trek and shamelessly getting away with it does not feel like the best choice for the Galaxy Far, Far Away in my mind. Maybe Driver just happens to actually be a good actor and as such a decent choice for whatever this villain role is going to be. It's hard to deny he has a sinister face. Yes, you might justifiably accuse me of calling him ugly, sorry.
Now Vincent D'Onofrio I know at least. He's played a memorable villain before in one of my childhood favorites, Men in Black, where he played the grotesquely big bug in the Edgar-suit. That was one baddie that freaked me out as a kid! Also knowing his talents from playing Orson Welles in Ed Wood, I can say I know D'Onofrio has a rather diverse range as an actor, so I'm sure he can pull off playing a character of a similarly savoury nature in Jurassic World. I hate to resort to the term 'villain' when JP is concerned, as so far the Jurassic Park movies haven't featured true villains yet, only regular human beings driven by greed and profits. Of course, those are the true villains of our time, but compared to the regular notion of a movie villain they're just as human as the rest of us. The nature of D'Onofrio's part is still kept secret as most things JW are, most notably the dinosaur casting. A human rogue is good as a secondary element, but it's the dinosaurs the audience craves to see endangering the protagonists. I'll definitely not use the term 'villain' in connection with dinosaurs, as they are supposed to be animals acting natural (insofar as we think they might have done) or lashing out because they're driven to acts of aggression by human indecency. The only exception might be the Velociraptors, who, due to their supposed superior intelligence, are capable of making a seemingly rational choice between acting as villains or sticking to being mere animals instead. Whether such philosoraptors are again thrown in the mix in the case of Jurassic World remains to be seen, as rumours are going around their niche will soon be filled with Troodon instead, an even smarter species of small, pack-hunting predatory dinosaurs. I'm sure T-Rex will again return triumphantly though, for sure. Whatever choices of dino-casting director Colin Trevorrow makes, I'm positive 'safety is not guaranteed' (pun!) for D'Onofrio's character. That's what you get for playing a bad guy I suppose.
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