"Highlander" Returns, or "There Can Only Be Several!"
This week's weirdest remake news wasn't the story that David
Cronenberg's "The Fly" is going to be remade by ... David Cronenberg? As odd as
the announcement sounds, after his critically well-received recent operatic
revision... more of the tale, I'm sure that Mr. Cronenberg has some new ideas to bring
to the table, and, really, I doubt he'd do it if he didn't have some ideas to
make it interesting. And, even if it were just a naked cash grab, well, who
better to do the grabbing?
But I, of course, digress. No, last week's
weirdest and most interesting remake news was the story that the
"Fast & Furious" team of producer Neal Moritz and director Justin Lin
are going to bring back "Highlander," the 1986 Russell Mulcahy trash-classic
that gave us Christopher Lambert as a lonely, long-lived swordsman blessed, and
cursed, with nearly eternal life battling it out with his similarly enchanted
nemesis Clancy Brown while Queen's operatic rock blared and blasted on the
soundtrack, hitting the perfect note between the Byronic and the moronic. And
I'm not indisposed to this idea; I think a "Highlander" remake can't do as much
to hurt my lingering positive memories of the original film as the endless
sequels and the bland TV shows that have been pumped out in the past 23 years.
(And if you're an Adrian Paul fan -- or Adrian Paul, for that matter -- I
apologize. But let's be honest here, you know?)
But, if I may be bold, a
few notes to Mr. Lin and Mr. Moritz. First, don't mess around on the soundtrack;
call Muse right now and lock them in, because there's not another band out there
right now with the splayed-leg howling swagger that this project so desperately
needs. Second, don't take the film out of New York; the mix of the urban modern
and the starkly medieval is a big part of the junk-food appeal of the original,
and idea of clashing, slashing swordfights in Manhattan still has a comic-book,
block-rocking trashy power to it. Finally, as important as it is to cast your
hero, don't neglect to take care casting the villain of the piece, the Kurgan;
and, bluntly, Clancy Brown is still in great shape, just as scary as ever and
would allow for a nice nod to the original without diluting the power and
panache that "Highlander" is going to need if it wants to pull off a pop-culture
resurrection. Close
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