Rocky Horror Picture Show (2016)

Rating: 5 out of 10

For every good part of this remake, there was a part that went horribly wrong. So I have split my review into the "Top 3" and the "Worst 3" parts of the movie. Let's start at the top, shall we?

Top 3

1. Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox did a fantastic job playing Dr. Frank N Furter. According to one of their "Behind the Scenes" outtakes during the commercial break, it is a role that she has always wanted to play, and you can tell. She obviously loves the movie, and knows the music well. The huge problem I have with her being cast in this role is her gender. She is a she! Maybe not the biggest deal in the world, because I do think that people of any gender should be able to play any role, but in this case I believe it is based in discrimination. My best guess is that they were casting a transvestite, thought of Laverne Cox and said, "Hey, she's trans. That would be good." without really thinking about what it implies; namely, that by casting Laverne Cox in a man's role, you may be implying that she is not a woman. That being said, I have no complaints about her performance: she belted out those songs, looks great in lingerie, and is an amazing actor.

2. Rocky Horror
Staz Nair was fantastic as the titular character. I've always thought that Rocky is the most difficult role to play; to be understated and act like you have half a brain is really difficult! Especially while singing "Sword of Damocles!" But I felt that Staz Nair did a great job at that. He's no Peter Hinwood, but hey, few are.

3. The Castle / The Set
Well, I really liked that castle. It actually looked like a castle, unlike the original version! I have heard complaints that having such a realistic and flashy set takes away from the camp of the script, and I totally agree with that. I just think it was really cool to see this be acted out in an actual castle, and it was one of my favorite parts of watching this. And there weren't many, unfortunately, so I'm just going to roll with it .

Worst 3

1. The Costumes
During the first break (I'm not sure if you can call it a commercial break, because there were no commercials) there was a behind the scenes short that discussed the costumes. Apparently, the costume designer decided to make the aliens have reddish costumes, the humans have blue costumes, and then the finale was all gold. It wasn't good. Laverne Cox does not look good in red, and since she's the star, that seems like a huge problem to me. Also, the costumes looked really bulky. I don't know how to describe it other than that, but in the original, everyone is fairly scantily clad. I realize this is for TV, but having Columbia in pedal pushers in the finale? What were they thinking?

2. The Audience Participation
I love audience participation. I spent a long time playing Janet, and I can go through the entire movie yelling at it the whole time. (Although I usually don't, but it's in my head!) I can understand what they were going for by including the audience, since this is supposed to be an homage to the staying power of the original and the midnight showings. However, it just didn't fit in with what they were doing. They cut to the "audience" so rarely that it tended to be jarring. Plus, they didn't have any of the best lines.

3. Janet Weiss
Obviously, it's difficult to fill Susan Sarandon's amazing shoes. But really, the part of Janet isn't that difficult. She has three songs, but the only song she carries on her own is "Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me." Victoria Justice did a decent song with that one. But she was way off, in character and expressivity, in "Dammit Janet" and "Over at the Frankenstein Place." Since those are the first two big numbers, that was pretty rough to watch.

Other Notables
It was cool that they did Superheroes at the end, which is missing from many of the prints of the original movie, but I don't know why they walked away at the end. It seemed like a weird way to change the ending.

It was great to see Tim Curry. I didn't know he was acting again after his medical issues. Love him!

I don't know why they had Ivy Levan sing and act out Science Fiction/Double Feature. It was weird. Like a music video, but in a bad way.

All this being said, I am a huge fan of the original. I realize this may come off as a huge fan who does not like to see change, and that is definitely part of it! I admit that fully. Some of my favorite things about the original movie were "wrecked" (in my opinion) in this remake.

I feel better when I think of it as a tribute: just a bunch of RHPS fans getting together and doing it in a more current way. Then I even kind of like it. But even as a tribute, I felt that it fell quite short of what it could have been. They definitely should have looked harder for a Janet!