Smoreni Zmaj
I'm a great fan of Naomi Watts, so when I saw Funny Games from 1997, I could not resist watching a remake immediately. After a few minutes, I realized that this is not a classic remake, but literally to the detail the same movie, only shot at another location and with the other set of actors. Ok, they've changed dog breed and cell phone and kitchen appliances are more modern, but everything else is identical. Every scene, every cadre, every word. I do not understand why Haneke had the need to do something like this, without even trying to bring at least a little original spirit into this remake. After fifteen minutes I got bored, so , out of love for Naomi, I just skipped to the key points and watched the most important scenes. At first I was sorry I did not watch the remake first, because of Naomi of course, but I soon discovered that I did not make a mistake because the original is somewhat better.Funny Games is a psychological thriller/horror, which shows the family on vacation in the middle of nowhere. A couple of young sociopaths break into their house and start a psycho-physical terror. Story is solid, with no big holes and illogicality, and shows the situation very realistically. The directing is excellent and manages to build an extremely stressful atmosphere completely without explicit scenes, with this tension somewhat stronger in the original. As far as acting is concerned, it's hard to say which cast is better overall. Although Michael Pitt is really creepy, Arno Frisch and Frank Giering are much better in roles of young sociopaths. On the other hand, Naomi Watts is slightly better Anna than Susanne Lothar, while Tim Rot completely overshadows Ulrich Mühe from the very start.!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!All in all, this more than a solid thriller, with a strong atmosphere that kept me on the edge of the seat, would have earned a strong eight, maybe even nine, if Haneke did not come to a totally moronic idea to add a "fourth dimension", i.e. direct communication with the audience. On several occasions we have freezing of the image, actors talking to the audience, and on top of everything, one of the characters takes the remote control in the middle of denouement, rewinds the movie few minutes back, and then movie takes completely different direction. This kind of scene is suitable only and exclusively in comedies, and even there it's outworn, but for a serious psychological thriller it is a complete deal-breaker and spoils overall impression to seven tops. Due to a certain difference in the atmosphere of the original and the remake, I give them half a score up and down.1997. - 7,5/10
2007. - 6,5/10Arno & Frank - 8/10
Naomi & Tim - 9/10
grantss
The original Funny Games - German, made in 1997, written and directed by Michael Haneke - was great. Haneke decided to remake the movie for US audiences, and promptly screwed it up. Instead of thought- provoking, this is pretentious. Instead of innovative, this is second hand. Instead of suspenseful, this is boring. Maybe it was because I had seen the original so knew where it was going, but the plot was slow. Direction was ponderous and listless.Worst of all was the casting. Michael Pitt spells disaster for any movie he is in. Wooden, pretentious, irritating. Brady Corbet follows his lead. Naomi Watts does her usual over-acting. Tim Roth is a superb actor but had nothing to work with and deserves a lot better than this.
chuckbechard
This is going to be a very simple review - Funny Games might just be the worst movie I have ever seen. And this makes no sense because - Tim Roth...outstanding - Naomi Watts...great - the movie...terrible waste of time. Save yourself and just watch something...anything else. You will be happy that you made any other choice what so ever.
