It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This re-make is pretty fabulous! But it had a messed up release by Fox who have since blocked most clips of it on You Tube. Fox has pretty much buried it. It's every bit as good as the original and better in many ways. I think all the minor characters are better in the re-make and it's a very different presentation but superior in my opinion. The Jury's out on Frank'n Furter though...a different interpretation but a noble one. Tim Curry, who makes a pretty deflated appearance in the new version, is a hard act to follow. But the Transgender actress Laverne Cox, who plays the new Frank pretty much knocks it out of the ballpark. She has big steps to fill but she does a great job. I loved it! Probably more than the original to be perfectly...well, um...Frank. I Hope you can track it down. Sadly the haters attacked the re-make and Fox Films did nothing to save it. Such a pity...I thought it was brave and quite extraordinary! Hopefully, like the original Rocky, which was also a box office flop, it will live again. Ignore the low ratings. This is in most ways a superior version.

Disclaimer: Unlike some other reviewers of this movie, I was introduced to Rocky Horror through the 2015 live show starring David Bedella and Ben Forster, among others (it's on YouTube, give it a watch). While I wasn't familiar with the audience participation or the dressing up, I immediately fell in love with this story of new love being tested and surviving against all odds. This also may have opened me up to the possibility of many "Rocky"s and made it feel less like an attack on an interest I felt very close to. While that version still remains my favorite, I am a firm believer that this movie does not deserve all the criticism that it got. Where it failed, it failed spectacularly, but when it soared, it invoked an emotional connection in me that I never felt watching the original 1975 movie.For the most part, the cast is wonderful. Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan shine as the movie's protagonists, and bring layers to the characters that made me think more critically about how I viewed them. In particular, the emphasis on bisexual/multi-gendered attraction in a non-shaming way was a nice contrast to the narrative of the stage show & 1975 movie, wherein Janet "becomes a slut" and Brad "turns gay". (Granted, I knew about Ryan since his days in Heathers, so I was excited when I heard he'd be playing Brad.) Laverne Cox shone during the floor show, and while her take on the character didn't feel brand-new, she brought new meaning to the role of Frank-n-Furter in the modern day. Other highlights include Christina Millan and that blue-haired rocker Transylvanian. The performances by Annaleigh Ashford and Tim Curry fell flat for me, but I appreciate Ashford's grungy/fangirl take on Columbia and Tim Curry was really trying to give a great performance in the aftermath of his stroke. I understand that Ortega and the casting team used Curry to replace Richard O'Brien after the transphobic comments O'Brien made about Laverne, but other actorsfrom the 1975 film (like Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, and Little Nell) all indicated an interest in playing the Criminologist as well. Could Ortega have worked in a team of actors, ala Stephen Fry/Antony Head/Mel Gideroyc/Emma Bunton? Just a thought.The reworking of the story shines. What a lot of modern Rocky fans forget in their reviews is the political stance the movie took in the 70s, and Ortega's interests in creating an adaptation with modernized messages about LGBTQ identity. As a trans guy, I fully supported and encouraged Ortega's choice to cast Laverne in a traditionally male role. Sure, drag queens were exciting and new when the show was conceived, but isn't it a greater homage to the original's political identity to cast the first trans actor ever leading on a major TV network? Isn't that exciting and new? I also appreciated the subtle nod to the modern role of the police versus individuals of color, and the phasing out of Frank-n-Furter's "mental illness" that resulted in the excusing of murder. In 1975, Riff Raff's killing of Frank may have represented the pro- police view that it was heroic to put down a dangerous criminal, but in the 2016 film, Ortega tried his hardest to show a new side of the narrative by suggesting that Riff Raff, a white and (presumably) cisgender & straight man killing an unarmed trans black woman is a more modern reflection of today's police state. This narrative may have come across as forced and clunky, but I have to give him credit for trying.Yes, the soundtrack is overproduced, and the workarounds for the TV-14 rating are awkward, and certain elements still miss what I personally believe the true message of Rocky Horror to be, but this take on a familiar classic tries its hardest to get rid of the original's transmisogynistic undertones and move its political message into a new age, while still managing to have a lot of fun in the process. It's a big, fun party covered in gold and glitter, imposing on its viewers a simple message: Don't just dream that LGBTQ-friendly media can exist in the mainstream. Make it a reality.

It would be fine for a college production or something. But there is minimal homage and the direction is like the cast of Glee pretending to go through puberty and suck the life out of the story. I'm going to pretend Ben Vereen and Tim Curry have lost their minds. This makes me sad. Now I'm going to watch the original.BTW, here's your spoiler.....it's crap.

Inspired.. truly.. I didn't hear anything about this remake.. although it had bee rumored for years.the casting was PC not for the good of the legacy of this awesome film.. Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter or as they say here frankfurter??Ben Vereen as Dr. Scott.. WTF were they thinking? Using a great dancer, an actor known for his dance.. in a wheelchair bound role? I gave it a 5 simply due to the other actor's hard word in recreating a classic, not deviating from the standard!Laverne Cox as Frank.. No No No just shitty PC bullshit! Her impression is one of the worst points to this movie.. Just embarrassing