The trailer for The Wicker Man suggests a mystery with supernatural overtones. With images of a missing child, a station wagon hit by a truck and bursting into flames, an isolated island, and strange women dressed in 19th-century clothing, the trailer caught my interest At the same time, there was something about the trailer that bothered me, something hackneyed, jury rigged.
Written and directed by Neil Labute, and “reinterpreted” from the highly regarded 1973 British Wicker Man, this film has an agenda. It targets feminists, matriarchy, the New Age movement, Wiccans, nature worshippers, alternative cultures, bees, and fans of Ellen Burstyn, whose appearance is an embarrassment. It draws on Nathaniel Hawthorne, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and, of course, the 1973 original. Labute’s film does not live up to these sources.
Policeman Edward Malus, played by Nicholas Cage, stops a station wagon in Northern California to return a doll dropped on the road. When he returns the doll, the little girl who dropped it throws it out again. When he walks over to pick up the doll, a truck crashes into the station wagon, which bursts into flames and then explodes as Edward tries to pull the girl from the wreckage. He loses consciousness. Bodies are never found in the wreckage. While he is recovering, he receives a letter from his former fiancé whose child has disappeared. She asks his help. Against his better judgment, he travels to the state of Washington and the isolated island where she lives, and the mystery begins to unfold.
This film reminded me of the old computer game Myst, which had a rich and fascinating atmosphere but not much of a plot, at least not much of one as far as I got into the game. Myst in its evocation of mystery and suspense and its puzzles and problems was a revolutionary computer game. The Wicker Man is a dull and plodding film that follows Edward Malus in his anguished and fairly dimwitted plunge towards the mystery’s solution. There is little about this film that is surprising or creative.
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Article comments
1 - Happy
I'm so glad I found a review that supports my feeling of the film! This film is so anti-feminist it scares me (being a woman). I'm not a feminist myself, but I also hate films or people that shout, "Look what happens if women rule the world!!"
Being bothered by this so much, I have to check the original film to see if this is really the hidden meaning. By having Christopher Lee as Lord Summerilse and the producer's anti-woman portrayal in his other films, maybe this is his own spices added in.
I have to agree that the film is bad taste, but the storyline overall still bothers me so much that I don't think I want to watch the original even if I have the chance.
2 - joe momma
i gotta hand this movie 2 thumbs up the directors ass. i was so abhorrently traumatized by this movie that it directly affected my sex life in a very negative way. i had to find somewhere to go and lay down some serious hate for this movie. id like to find someone to sue for putting together trash of this nature. i feel traumatized after watching that movie, being a man. that movie was mental abuse for men.
i am no christian, nor a pagan. i am a simple athiest. this movie will warp the minds of the weak in a sad way.
the real horror of this movie: it is unfortunate that our society has such a hard time distinguishing reality from television. i love a good horror film. but this was a pathetic attempt at best. the only horrifying thing that comes to my mind is all the lame brain cable tv watchers that might agree with some aspect of this film.
to the women who felt empowered by this film... a big dunce hat for all of you.
man and woman are alike and equal, balanced and proportioned in all aspects. on an individual level there are bound to be differences but those differences are what make men and women a good team, when devoted to eachother. equality is a good thing. im always in favor of women's liberation...especially when its not in their favor ;).
warren-g called sommer isle, he said hes on his way with snoop, ice-t, easy-e, 50 cent and all the pimpin posse to throw down and regulate those biatches with some good ol' fashioned bitch shut the fuck up until its time for you to do something productive. "re-productive".
ok i feel better now.
no wait... ,,!,, dude. how could you commit such an act of treason on your own kind?
3 - Nigel Thorn Rose Tree
All i have to say is watch the original, it rules and apparently the original print was buried under a british motorway????
4 - Petee
I think this is a great film and acts as a warning about the concentration of power in the hands of a small sector. In this case, yes, females or feminists. Why do some women find this such a difficult concept? Women have great capacity for evil too. To believe the "sugar and spice and all things nice" mantra is very childish.