A remake that virtually keeps the same structure, losing some, or simply confining sub-plots to install a brisk pace and focus more so on Willard and the rats, while steering towards a humorously strange, yet darker tone that was character driven and horror skewed. Well up to a point, because the 1971 cult original had a much downer ending, which I prefered. Anyhow Crispin Glover evokes weirdness and a wired-up intensity like no other and his interactions with the rats (real & CGI) is genuinely affecting watching his timid nature change with the taste of power and control when the rats come on the scene. Then things start to get out of hand when a particular rat (a creepy looking Ben) begins to disobey him. There it becomes a battle with of wits of who's in charge, and Glover along with his mannerisms (which sometimes resembles a rat) were very captivating to watch. Not forgetting Jackie Burroughs' minor turn and of course R. Lee Ermey who commands the screen as the jerk boss making Willard's life hard at work. You can't wait to see his comeuppance - "Tear him up"! Director Glen Morgan's slick, twisted vision crafts few striking set-pieces - nothing quite like the sequence involving Michael Jackson's song "Ben".
Review of Willard
