5 Movies that Need to be Remade

“Remake” has become something of a dirty word these days, and it’s hard not to see why. From “The Lone Ranger” to “The Mummy,” from “Robocop” to “Red Dawn,” unsuccessful remakes are the rule rather than the exception. But have you ever stopped to wonder why?

The usual criticism is that the new filmmakers didn’t “get” the original, but that’s only part of the problem. The real issue is that studios are picking the wrong movies. Why waste time trying and failing to update a beloved classic, when there are mountains of failed films that are just begging for a second pass?

#1 “The Last Airbender”

Ah, M. Knight Shyamalan, what did you do to my childhood? “Avatar: The Last Airbender” follows a 12-year-old boy named Aang as he travels the world to master control over the elements of earth, water, fire, and air so that he can defeat the evil Fire Lord and restore balance to the world. The show was creative, well animated, and managed to thread the needle of being accessible enough for kids but nuanced enough to keep adults invested too.

It’s almost impressive how little of that managed to make it into the live-action adaptation. The film was already controversial due to the whitewashed casting, and the performances were underwhelming even by the standard of child actors. These problems were only made worse by the film’s clunky, explosion heavy dialogue and lackluster special effects. Worst of all was the pacing, as the movie struggled to compress a 20-episode season into a 100-minute film.

Whoever ends up directing this hypothetical remake will have their work cut out for them. Still, I’m convinced that the right director working from the right script can make it happen. Netflix currently has a live-action series in the works, so maybe there’s still hope that “Avatar: The Last Airbender” will someday see the big screen adaptation it deserves.

#2 “Waterworld”

“Waterworld” is a weird movie. Kevan Costner has gills, and there’s a girl with a map to Mt. Everest tattooed on her back. It’s also a film with a fascinating sci-fi premise. This 1995 post-apocalyptic action film takes place in a world where global warming has completely melted the polar ice caps, reducing the surface of the earth to one giant ocean. It also has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive movie ever made up to that point.

If you can look past some dodgy science (Costner’s gills, breathing at high altitude, et cetera), you have to admit the idea has potential. It’s basically “Mad Max” meets “Pirates of the Caribbean,” what’s not to like?

The main problem was with the script, as critics and audiences found the plot and characters flat and uninteresting. That said, the “Waterworld” live show is still running at the Universal theme parks in Hollywood, Singapore, and Osaka, with a fourth set to open in Beijing next year. Audiences are clearly receptive to the idea, so a proper remake could be possible.

#3 “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”

“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” was the 2003 adaptation of the comic book series of the same name. The comics, which reimagined Victorian literary heroes into an Avengers-like superhero team, is famous for its nuanced characters, sophisticated storytelling, and unabashed Britishness.

The movie, on the other hand, is famous for making veteran actor Sean Connery quit the industry altogether. Fans hated the film for being an unfaithful adaptation of the series. Critics hated it for the nonsensical plot, and both despised the paper-thin characters and forgettable script. Roger Ebert wouldn’t have been surprised if half the script had blown away during filming.

So, yeah, it could have been better.

The main problem seems to have stemmed from production issues, as the script allegedly went through 20 different versions and fell victim to studio interference. Fox had been working on a reboot back in 2016, but it’s not clear if that’s still on the table following the studio’s merger with Disney. Could there be an Avengers-League crossover before 2030? Probably not, but you never know.

#4 “I Am Legend”

“I Am Legend” is a 2007 horror movie starring Will Smith and based on a 1954 novel of the same name. The book follows the struggle of the last man on Earth after humanity has been wiped out by a vampiric plague. The title refers to the lead’s realization that in the new, vampire dominated world, he is the monster stalking them. The Will Smith version is actually the third adaptation, with the original film, “The Last Man on Earth,” being considered the most faithful to the book.

Like most of the entries on this list, the Will Smith version suffered from an unfortunate amount of studio interference. This included a last-minute change to the ending that not only missed the point of the original book but also contradicted an entire film’s worth of setup and foreshadowing.

Still, the movie was great up until that point, and I think that a remake that combined the best part of the 1964 and 2007 films would be a must-see for fans of post-apocalyptic horror.

#5 The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien, the grandfather of modern fantasy, wrote the “Hobbit” in 1937. It was a relatively straightforward children’s story about a diminutive hero and thirteen bumbling dwarves going on a quest to fight a dragon. The film trilogy is an overlong, over-complicated, poorly paced series that flips randomly between serious business and cartoon hijinks. This is a trilogy that expects the audience to care about the deaths of major characters mere minutes after Legolas’ ridiculous zero gravity parkour.

The story of how we got the movies we ended up with is a long one. Lindsay Ellis did a detailed analysis you can look at here, and it’s definitely worth a watch if you have the time. The biggest issues were studio interference and disagreements between Peter Jackson and the original director, Guillermo del Toro. You see, del Toro wanted to stick closer to the spirit of the source material, playing up the fairytale aspect of the original book. This clashed with Jackson and the studio’s desire for a movie that more closely resembled “Lord of the Rings.”

While it’s hard to say what exactly Guillermo del Toro’s “Hobbit” would have looked like, a film that fully embraces the tone of the book might avoid many of the trilogy’s storytelling pitfalls.

But what do you think? Are these films just waiting for a remake to do them justice, or are we better off letting bad movies be?