To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this film when I set out to watch it. I'd already heard all of the negative press, and two further things stood against it in my opinion: the first was the involvement of producer Michael Bay, whose work I'm not a great fan of (that bloated mess TRANSFORMERS, anyone?), and the second was that I saw no reason for a remake to begin with. The original THE HITCHER, made in 1986 and starring Rutger Hauer, is a perfectly good little thriller with plenty of scares, shocks, and suspenseful moments. So why remake it just twenty-one years later?
The reason is obvious: money. And this version of THE HITCHER is little more than a cynical ploy to make more of it, without putting much thought or effort into the movie to begin with. However, despite all these flaws, negatives, and problems, I was left feeling genuinely surprised, because I thought this film wasn't too bad. Sure, it's no classic, and it's not one I'll ever really want to watch again, but it passes the time. It doesn't muster up much suspense but as a film reliant on 'jump' scares, it works a treat, with sudden characters bursting onto the screen, or bursts of sound or music, making me start from my seat time after time. It may not be art, but if it's what you're looking for...
I'll admit right now that I have a soft spot for Sean Bean, one of my favourite actors. Maybe it's his working class origins or his rugged look, but I always enjoy seeing this guy up on screen. Having watched him act the hell out of the other cast members in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, it was no surprise seeing him give a great performance here. He's subtle, scary, and very much deranged, an absolute psychopath with no emotion or care for his own safety or the lives of others. Bean doesn't fascinate like Hauer did, but he's perfectly good in the role.
The other cast members are okay. Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton aren't given much to work with other than react to the various menaces, but they convince as the young college couple. Character actor Neal McDonough is on hand playing the lawman investigating the crimes but he's criminally wasted here, especially after he gave such a good performance in BAND OF BROTHERS – he could well have played the Hitcher himself with those staring eyes.
As far as remaking the original movie goes, some bits are the same while others are different. One action set-piece in the middle of the film really got my goat, because of the decision to play some stupid, intrusive piece of pop music right in the middle of it. I know they did it for effect, but it really doesn't work – I'm a traditionalist when it comes to soundtracks, give me an orchestra any day. Elsewhere, it's predictable fun, with characters hunting around in dark basements or being confronted with bloodied corpses. The gore and violence is amped up, crucially in a moment near the climax where a character is tied between the cabin and trailer of a lorry, and it provides a welcome distraction from the plot holes and lack of logic you see elsewhere.
Despite a rushed ending, I still enjoyed this movie. It keeps you watching and Bean, although he doesn't exactly set the screen alight, is an able menace; the escape from the prison van is well handled and disturbing. THE HITCHER is the kind of film I can take or leave, but I've seen worse – a lot worse...
The reason is obvious: money. And this version of THE HITCHER is little more than a cynical ploy to make more of it, without putting much thought or effort into the movie to begin with. However, despite all these flaws, negatives, and problems, I was left feeling genuinely surprised, because I thought this film wasn't too bad. Sure, it's no classic, and it's not one I'll ever really want to watch again, but it passes the time. It doesn't muster up much suspense but as a film reliant on 'jump' scares, it works a treat, with sudden characters bursting onto the screen, or bursts of sound or music, making me start from my seat time after time. It may not be art, but if it's what you're looking for...
I'll admit right now that I have a soft spot for Sean Bean, one of my favourite actors. Maybe it's his working class origins or his rugged look, but I always enjoy seeing this guy up on screen. Having watched him act the hell out of the other cast members in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, it was no surprise seeing him give a great performance here. He's subtle, scary, and very much deranged, an absolute psychopath with no emotion or care for his own safety or the lives of others. Bean doesn't fascinate like Hauer did, but he's perfectly good in the role.
The other cast members are okay. Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton aren't given much to work with other than react to the various menaces, but they convince as the young college couple. Character actor Neal McDonough is on hand playing the lawman investigating the crimes but he's criminally wasted here, especially after he gave such a good performance in BAND OF BROTHERS – he could well have played the Hitcher himself with those staring eyes.
As far as remaking the original movie goes, some bits are the same while others are different. One action set-piece in the middle of the film really got my goat, because of the decision to play some stupid, intrusive piece of pop music right in the middle of it. I know they did it for effect, but it really doesn't work – I'm a traditionalist when it comes to soundtracks, give me an orchestra any day. Elsewhere, it's predictable fun, with characters hunting around in dark basements or being confronted with bloodied corpses. The gore and violence is amped up, crucially in a moment near the climax where a character is tied between the cabin and trailer of a lorry, and it provides a welcome distraction from the plot holes and lack of logic you see elsewhere.
Despite a rushed ending, I still enjoyed this movie. It keeps you watching and Bean, although he doesn't exactly set the screen alight, is an able menace; the escape from the prison van is well handled and disturbing. THE HITCHER is the kind of film I can take or leave, but I've seen worse – a lot worse...