I grew up as a kid watching all the Freddy movies. I thought Freddy was a whole lot cooler than Santa Claus, and I thought he was a lot more interesting. They all have a special place in my heart.
As the series went along, Freddy became less scary. He wasn't scary like he was in the first two movies. He went from being a very scary, very mean guy to just being a scary clown, with more emphasis on the clown aspect. Then he was scary again in New Nightmare. And then he was somewhere in between in Freddy vs. Jason. Either way, Englund was in top form in every single incarnation. So of course, the first thing on everyone's mind is how in the hell will Jackie Earle Haley top what Englund has created. I asked myself that. I had hoped in the back of my mind that Jackie would do for Freddy what Heath Ledger did for The Joker. After watching this, and liking Jackie, I came to the conclusion that nobody, no matter how good of an actor, will ever top Robert Englund. Ever. Heath Ledger didn't top Jack Nicholson as the Joker because Heath Ledger simply was THE Joker. In a sense, the role of Freddy is like the Joker; it goes from simply trying to top an actor to just giving up and realizing that the original actor can't be topped, in which case, you simply have to make it different and make it your own. Which is probably what Haley did. It's like if someone were to try and top Ledger's Joker: It wouldn't be possible, so they just do the next best thing: Make the character their own and give their own awesome take on it; it might not live up to the original, but it can still be a good performance. Simply put, Robert Englund IS Freddy, and the only thing another actor can do is simply give a different interpretation and make it a good alternative.
I really liked Haley's take on Freddy Krueger, and in all, I really liked this take on Elm Street in general. In comparison to the other movies, this one seems to have more weight, it seems much meatier. It makes you think about things a lot more than the old movies did. They do this by giving Freddy a human side, a back story. I'm sure people are all angry reading this, thinking, "Humanizing Freddy, what the hell, what a disgrace, blah blah blah LOL!" He's not humanized in a cheap crappy way. Nothing about the character is really changed, he's just explored more than he was in other movies. It's not like Rob Zombie's crappy Halloween movies where they show Michael as a child and therefore kill off whatever mystique Myers had and shed light on what he was like. The difference is that knowing Michael was human didn't change anything, it was unnecessary. He was a different villain. Freddy, on the other hand, is a person, he's human. His motivations, his thought process, everything about him that is pure evil is taken up another notch and is made a little more disturbing because you know that he is a man, a very, very evil man.
This remake was really interesting to me because they made Freddy a really ambiguous character. Throughout the movie, you're left wondering whether or not he's actually guilty of harming the children. During the first half, it seems very likely that he was wrongly accused, and during that same half, you're left thinking that all of his killing might just be because he's legitimately angry and getting revenge on the kids that got him killed. Even though he's an awful person already, you're still left thinking that maybe he was a good guy. He certainly seemed like a really good guy in the flashbacks. This ambiguity added an extra dynamic to the movie that the original didn't have.
Now when you finally realize that Freddy WAS a really bad man, that he really is sick enough to hurt children and then wanna kill them because they simply told the truth about him, it makes the movie, and Freddy himself, much more interesting and a little creepier. When you're watching the flashbacks, you're left thinking that he might've been a good guy, but when you realize that he never was, you're forced to realize that this seemingly good hearted guy was a very mean, very awful and evil psychopath underneath it all. When you realize that he's relishing and enjoying killing all these kids (now grownup) just because they told on him, it makes him a lot creepier and just completely different in comparison to the old movies.
All the actors weren't really that terrible. Kyle Gallner is pretty cool and he's pretty awesome in most of the movies he's in. Thomas Dekker was pretty good, I liked Rooney Mara as Nancy and Clancy Brown is always awesome in anything he's in. I liked all the actors. Of course people will complain that they're too "pretty" and "modern looking," but really, all the people in the original were considered pretty and modern looking back then too. And also, people seem to forget that the original movie didn't have the best acting either (Englund was awesome though).
Overall, I really liked the movie. It could have EASILY turned out terrible. It's much better than the crappy sequels, and it's a new take on Freddy, and I really liked it. It doesn't tarnish the original, it doesn't try to imply that the original was crap, it's just a new take. I love how people condemn the idea of this but wouldn't object to a bad sequel. But that's just me. Go to the theater and judge for yourself. This is just my take, my opinion.
Score: 8 ½ out of 10.
As the series went along, Freddy became less scary. He wasn't scary like he was in the first two movies. He went from being a very scary, very mean guy to just being a scary clown, with more emphasis on the clown aspect. Then he was scary again in New Nightmare. And then he was somewhere in between in Freddy vs. Jason. Either way, Englund was in top form in every single incarnation. So of course, the first thing on everyone's mind is how in the hell will Jackie Earle Haley top what Englund has created. I asked myself that. I had hoped in the back of my mind that Jackie would do for Freddy what Heath Ledger did for The Joker. After watching this, and liking Jackie, I came to the conclusion that nobody, no matter how good of an actor, will ever top Robert Englund. Ever. Heath Ledger didn't top Jack Nicholson as the Joker because Heath Ledger simply was THE Joker. In a sense, the role of Freddy is like the Joker; it goes from simply trying to top an actor to just giving up and realizing that the original actor can't be topped, in which case, you simply have to make it different and make it your own. Which is probably what Haley did. It's like if someone were to try and top Ledger's Joker: It wouldn't be possible, so they just do the next best thing: Make the character their own and give their own awesome take on it; it might not live up to the original, but it can still be a good performance. Simply put, Robert Englund IS Freddy, and the only thing another actor can do is simply give a different interpretation and make it a good alternative.
I really liked Haley's take on Freddy Krueger, and in all, I really liked this take on Elm Street in general. In comparison to the other movies, this one seems to have more weight, it seems much meatier. It makes you think about things a lot more than the old movies did. They do this by giving Freddy a human side, a back story. I'm sure people are all angry reading this, thinking, "Humanizing Freddy, what the hell, what a disgrace, blah blah blah LOL!" He's not humanized in a cheap crappy way. Nothing about the character is really changed, he's just explored more than he was in other movies. It's not like Rob Zombie's crappy Halloween movies where they show Michael as a child and therefore kill off whatever mystique Myers had and shed light on what he was like. The difference is that knowing Michael was human didn't change anything, it was unnecessary. He was a different villain. Freddy, on the other hand, is a person, he's human. His motivations, his thought process, everything about him that is pure evil is taken up another notch and is made a little more disturbing because you know that he is a man, a very, very evil man.
This remake was really interesting to me because they made Freddy a really ambiguous character. Throughout the movie, you're left wondering whether or not he's actually guilty of harming the children. During the first half, it seems very likely that he was wrongly accused, and during that same half, you're left thinking that all of his killing might just be because he's legitimately angry and getting revenge on the kids that got him killed. Even though he's an awful person already, you're still left thinking that maybe he was a good guy. He certainly seemed like a really good guy in the flashbacks. This ambiguity added an extra dynamic to the movie that the original didn't have.
Now when you finally realize that Freddy WAS a really bad man, that he really is sick enough to hurt children and then wanna kill them because they simply told the truth about him, it makes the movie, and Freddy himself, much more interesting and a little creepier. When you're watching the flashbacks, you're left thinking that he might've been a good guy, but when you realize that he never was, you're forced to realize that this seemingly good hearted guy was a very mean, very awful and evil psychopath underneath it all. When you realize that he's relishing and enjoying killing all these kids (now grownup) just because they told on him, it makes him a lot creepier and just completely different in comparison to the old movies.
All the actors weren't really that terrible. Kyle Gallner is pretty cool and he's pretty awesome in most of the movies he's in. Thomas Dekker was pretty good, I liked Rooney Mara as Nancy and Clancy Brown is always awesome in anything he's in. I liked all the actors. Of course people will complain that they're too "pretty" and "modern looking," but really, all the people in the original were considered pretty and modern looking back then too. And also, people seem to forget that the original movie didn't have the best acting either (Englund was awesome though).
Overall, I really liked the movie. It could have EASILY turned out terrible. It's much better than the crappy sequels, and it's a new take on Freddy, and I really liked it. It doesn't tarnish the original, it doesn't try to imply that the original was crap, it's just a new take. I love how people condemn the idea of this but wouldn't object to a bad sequel. But that's just me. Go to the theater and judge for yourself. This is just my take, my opinion.
Score: 8 ½ out of 10.
Tell Your Friends