Why there’s no need to remake movies

review

The show is as boring as a rainy Sunday in autumn – the cast alone is convincing. More than anything, “Cruel Intentions” is an example of a genre destined to decline.

Sven Pabo/ watson.ch/fr

Cruel Intentions (1999) is a film that has become the epitome of pop culture, so iconic that 25 years later, gifs of it are still being sent on WhatsApp. Now the film has been remade – but this time as a series.

After NBC's failed attempt in 2016, Prime Video is now at work and repurposing the basic material: Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos' 18th-century novel Dangerous Liaisons.

Image: Tenor

However, the new series takes place at Manchester College near Washington, D.C., rather than in New York like the original film. If you expect to find the same name again, you'll fall off your folding chair. Catherine Melteuil is now known as Caroline, and Annette Hargrove (played by Reese Witherspoon) is now named Anne Grover (played by Savannah Lee Smith). Sebastian Valmont's character (Ryan Philippe in the movie) is named Lucien Belmont (Zach Burgess).

So, the introduction is over.

This story follows a case of bullying gone wrong and threatening the university system. The Brotherhood was in disarray, fearing that their small, isolated (and sometimes unscrupulous) party would fall apart. Amid this academic turmoil, Caroline and Sebastian hope to maintain their position at the top of the pyramid. Sebastian is supposed to seduce the Vice President's daughter in order to send her to the lion's den, Caroline's student council. This conspiracy is to preserve their power and reputation.

The Cruel Intentions remake is a perfect example of a failure.Image: Amazon

Presented as a series, Cruel Intentions plays on nostalgia and attempts to win back fans of the movie by providing fan service. The song “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by The Verve plays on an infinite loop. It’s the sound that shapes the film. A scene in the swimming pool is also reenacted to illustrate generational changes.

Contrary to the movie, the sexual tension of the love triangle never materializes in the series, only to be tossed aside in the blink of an eye. On the other hand, the drinking became more and more frequent, and the “cruel intentions” became longer and longer. This story is definitely not designed to be spread out over multiple episodes.

The tone, the pacing, the writing style – everything is boring. What saves this series is the cast that manages to embody these snobs.

Sarah Catherine Hook plays Caroline. One of the show's few surprises.Image: Amazon

One thinks of Zac Burgess, with his stylish mullet and cheap womanizer persona. The Australian's performance is a good reason to keep your eyes glued to the screen for a long time. The same goes for Sarah Catherine Hook's Caroline, who reveals small cracks behind her mask of indomitable young woman to humanize this calculating character.

Tired of slutty teen drama

The show's creators, Phoebe Fisher and Sarah Goodman, didn't include anything exciting or scandalous in the show. Worse, they were lost in the framework of a now-fabled (and defunct) fraternity, concerned only with petty issues. Half-hearted shows like Cruel Intentions undermine the cultural relevance of teen dramas.

A certain boredom embodied by the proliferation of soulless teen fare is far from the genre’s saving grace. Cruel Intentions sits like a corpse in the arsenal of harmless, vain, willful teen dramas.

We still hope that executives at the major studios will wake up to this boredom at some point, too. Only by grasping the topic well can the image of youth drama be re-polished.

Cruel Intentions is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

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