by Wayne Reeves

Created on: June 05, 2010

The original ‘The Wicker Man’ was released back in 1973, and has always been credited as an eerie film.  With the nature of Hollywood and its fetish for a quick buck from old ideas, a remake of ‘The Wicker Man’ was inevitable.  

Now we have the stoic, expression-deficient Nicholas Cage as the lead character, Edward Malus, a cop who gets drawn to the mysterious island of Summerisle.  After witnessing a horrific car explosion, where a mother and daughter are killed, Malus struggles to overcome the fateful events while on an extended leave of absence.

It’s not till he receives a letter from ex-partner, Willow Woodward (Kate Behan) telling him her daughter has gone missing, that Malus is stirred from his ongoing depression to investigate the circumstances relating to the child’s apparent disappearance.

Arriving on Summerisle, the atmosphere is a tense and suspicious one from the local residents, and Malus is far from impressed from their unhelpfulness in his legitimate investigation.  It soon dawns on him, after meeting up with Woodward, something is definitely awry with the island folk and their odd behaviour.

What could, and should be a strikingly unsettling movie, is let down drastically by the pantomime performances from all concerned.  Whether it is intentional or just by mistake, the acting borders on amateur-dramatics night at the local performing-arts centre.  

The island folk are literally in a daze as they meander about around Malus’ ever-frantic discoveries, never showing the slightest concern for his actions or accusations.  They seem to care more about the upcoming pagan festival approaching than his increasing knowledge of the missing girl.

There is not enough going on to want to know more about the mysteries of Summerisle; the missing child seems an afterthought and the people there aren’t interesting enough to want to know more.  Malus spends much of the film trying to get information from people not wanting to share anything with him.

In many scenes, the film picks up pace when Malus is going from one area of the island to other; his only means of transport is on an old bicycle - whether intentionally or not - it is comical to see Cage frantically peddling for all his apparent worth up-and-down bumpy lanes and paths.  In all the 102 minutes running time, this is the movie’s only redeeming feature.

In the finale, the final reveal offers an extremely flat level of so-called suspense.  It may hold some value to anyone who isn’t familiar with the original; ultimately it is an underwhelming end to a uninspired remake.  Taking into account that director Neil Labute was responsible for ‘Nurse Betty’ - a dark comedy with good performances all round - this is a poor effort in comparison.

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