You know what needed to be remade? Annie. But not just any remake. No, it needs to be a modernized, hip hop infused remake that focuses on materialism. Well, if that's exactly what you wanted, that is exactly what you got! The bad thing is, this is exactly what Annie didn't need. The modernized take on Annie follows an orphan who has a chance meeting with a billionaire mayoral candidate, but that meaning changes both of their lives. This remake falls into the category of pointless. The original from 1982 and even the Broadway musical from 1977 are more than enough, and the original can be considered a classic of sorts. Well, the film has been made, so its time to break it down.
For starters, the acting is subpar. The opening scene mocks a redhead and freckled girl representing classic Annie who does a joyful tap dance to rolling eyes in front of a modern classroom. She then gets booted off stage for being "uncool." Enter Will Smith's replacement "Annie" who then takes over and of course the class loves her because she's into hip hop culture and "cool." The child actors are expectedly bad, most of the adults are given nothing to work with, and then there is Cameron Diaz as Ms. Hannigan. There is absolutely no excuse for how horrible she is. She's just too nice, pretty and bubbly to play a heartless woman. It was like she put up a ''bad break-up'' mood to act cruel, and it didn't work. You cannot put a friendly-faced actress to perform as Ms. Hannigan: in the original, Carol Burnett nailed perfectly into the part. This is a poorly written film that bounces around all types of tones, with pacing that moves things quickly until the musical numbers kick in, which feel very out of place and bring things to a screeching halt. Which brings us to the music... The film "modernized" the classic songs by changing the beats of the songs to a faster tempo hip hop beat. If it sounds pointless, its because it is. By the time the credits do roll, there isn't much that sticks in the mind except one insanely horrible performance.
Nothing more to say, if you're gonna make a black Annie, you might as well fully commit and make all the originally white characters, black, just saying. "The Wiz" (1978) it's a good black rendition of "The Wizard of Oz". And don't come with nonsense like racism or anything like that.
PS: If you liked the performance of Cameron Diaz as Ms. Hannigan, go watch "The Mask" instead.
For starters, the acting is subpar. The opening scene mocks a redhead and freckled girl representing classic Annie who does a joyful tap dance to rolling eyes in front of a modern classroom. She then gets booted off stage for being "uncool." Enter Will Smith's replacement "Annie" who then takes over and of course the class loves her because she's into hip hop culture and "cool." The child actors are expectedly bad, most of the adults are given nothing to work with, and then there is Cameron Diaz as Ms. Hannigan. There is absolutely no excuse for how horrible she is. She's just too nice, pretty and bubbly to play a heartless woman. It was like she put up a ''bad break-up'' mood to act cruel, and it didn't work. You cannot put a friendly-faced actress to perform as Ms. Hannigan: in the original, Carol Burnett nailed perfectly into the part. This is a poorly written film that bounces around all types of tones, with pacing that moves things quickly until the musical numbers kick in, which feel very out of place and bring things to a screeching halt. Which brings us to the music... The film "modernized" the classic songs by changing the beats of the songs to a faster tempo hip hop beat. If it sounds pointless, its because it is. By the time the credits do roll, there isn't much that sticks in the mind except one insanely horrible performance.
Nothing more to say, if you're gonna make a black Annie, you might as well fully commit and make all the originally white characters, black, just saying. "The Wiz" (1978) it's a good black rendition of "The Wizard of Oz". And don't come with nonsense like racism or anything like that.
PS: If you liked the performance of Cameron Diaz as Ms. Hannigan, go watch "The Mask" instead.