Pretty Good

People are voting emotionally.

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Have you seen it? No? There is likely a very good reason for that...it stinks.Like nearly ALL the endless remakes and reboots that have been plaguing movie goers for the past decade or so....all this is, is a heartless version of the original.It has no heart.It has no soul.It is a retelling of a film that we all love and cherish...and it adds nothing to the story. It improves nothing but the special effects--which held up very well over time--and in some cases belittles the fans of the original...particularly in the fact that they remade the movie at all, without adding anything clever to it.Like so many other remakes it is a hallow shell of the original.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this film when I set out to watch it. I'd already heard all of the negative press, and two further things stood against it in my opinion: the first was the involvement of producer Michael Bay, whose work I'm not a great fan of (that bloated mess TRANSFORMERS, anyone?), and the second was that I saw no reason for a remake to begin with. The original THE HITCHER, made in 1986 and starring Rutger Hauer, is a perfectly good little thriller with plenty of scares, shocks, and suspenseful moments. So why remake it just twenty-one years later? The reason is obvious: money. And this version of THE HITCHER is little more than a cynical ploy to make more of it, without putting much thought or effort into the movie to begin with. However, despite all these flaws, negatives, and problems, I was left feeling genuinely surprised, because I thought this film wasn't too bad. Sure, it's no classic, and it's not one I'll ever really want to watch again, but it passes the time. It doesn't muster up much suspense but as a film reliant on 'jump' scares, it works a treat, with sudden characters bursting onto the screen, or bursts of sound or music, making me start from my seat time after time. It may not be art, but if it's what you're looking for...I'll admit right now that I have a soft spot for Sean Bean, one of my favourite actors. Maybe it's his working class origins or his rugged look, but I always enjoy seeing this guy up on screen. Having watched him act the hell out of the other cast members in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, it was no surprise seeing him give a great performance here. He's subtle, scary, and very much deranged, an absolute psychopath with no emotion or care for his own safety or the lives of others. Bean doesn't fascinate like Hauer did, but he's perfectly good in the role.The other cast members are okay. Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton aren't given much to work with other than react to the various menaces, but they convince as the young college couple. Character actor Neal McDonough is on hand playing the lawman investigating the crimes but he's criminally wasted here, especially after he gave such a good performance in BAND OF BROTHERS – he could well have played the Hitcher himself with those staring eyes.As far as remaking the original movie goes, some bits are the same while others are different. One action set-piece in the middle of the film really got my goat, because of the decision to play some stupid, intrusive piece of pop music right in the middle of it. I know they did it for effect, but it really doesn't work – I'm a traditionalist when it comes to soundtracks, give me an orchestra any day. Elsewhere, it's predictable fun, with characters hunting around in dark basements or being confronted with bloodied corpses. The gore and violence is amped up, crucially in a moment near the climax where a character is tied between the cabin and trailer of a lorry, and it provides a welcome distraction from the plot holes and lack of logic you see elsewhere.Despite a rushed ending, I still enjoyed this movie. It keeps you watching and Bean, although he doesn't exactly set the screen alight, is an able menace; the escape from the prison van is well handled and disturbing. THE HITCHER is the kind of film I can take or leave, but I've seen worse – a lot worse...

*A COUPLE SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING REVIEW*The title of this review says it all. So many holes in the storyline I don't even know where to begin. The jail scene, I mean, why would you announce to someone who is trying to kill you that you are in a certain place? The scene where she hides in the bathroom, why??? Why wouldn't you just tell the waitress to call 911 and why would you go get paper towels?! Are you trying to save the upholstery in the car that is already soaked with blood? How can one man kill a whole police squad/force? What was the officer in the helicopter doing? Watching and laughing? Come on... I have never spoke so badly about a movie in my life, not even Gigli, but please save yourself 84 minutes of your life that you will never get back. Again, PLEASE I'm begging you, do not watch this horrible horrible movie. Sophia Bush is still hot though.

Basically this is a unnecessary rehash of an 86' classic who's plot chooses to stay with the original, only with a couple of neat changes, peppered with uglier gore. The original in it's time was considered overly violent. Gees, how times have changed. Although it's well acted, but not by Zach whoever starring as Jim Halsey, who blatantly brought a amateur performance to the role (he wasn't strong enough) it just goes down that same road. One thing that wholly impressed was the chase sequence. It was wonderfully executed. It's a shame as the surrounding screen time of the movie was all old territory. There are some shocks I loved, one in Halsey's dreams when retiring for a night in a rest stop. If a fan of the original, there's one thing you won't see coming. A nice change/twist. Like the original, this is wonderfully and impressively shot, especially the night shots near the start, where Bean, getting sopping wet, is standing in the middle of the road thumbing it. Of course it doesn't match tour de force photography done by Australia's John Seale in the original, where the location shots were hen pecked. The racey pumped up tune at the start, is something I'd loved to have on a c.d. when driving over to the Yorke. Bean is solid, defines evil on a strong scale, only with Hauer, it was very naturalistic, where as Bean, who is a good actor, shows a lot of try, if as trying to match Rutger's performance, a role he'll never live down. Hottie, Bush as Halsey's girlfriend, Grace is very good and believable, where Mcdonnough as Captain Esteridge shows strong support, although Jeffrey De Munn was better in the role in the original. If a fan of the 86 classic, watch it, but if have never seeing both films, see the original first, PLEASE, before videoing this one.