The Wicker Man -- 2006 -- UR

I watched the Unrated DVD version of the film, though I guess the "shocking alternate ending" it advertised would be more shocking if I had seen the original...um..."not quite so shocking" ending.

Going into watching this film, I had seen the 1973 version, and I'd read a lot (a whole lot) of disparaging comments about this one. Most of these negative comments were from devotees of the original version, rather than an unbiased criticism of the film by itself.

As most know, this film involves a cop who is summoned to an island named for its administrator, Summersisle, to investigate the missing child of his ex-fiancee. He runs into road block after road block among the island's inhabitants which, understandably, frustrates him to no end.

As a stand alone film, it isn't a bad movie. The characters aren't too poorly constructed, though they could have been better. The plot seems to flow fairly well from point to point, which is primarily Edward trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Yes, quite a few liberties were taken with the original Shaffer script, but these liberties seemed to tie the story together a bit differently than the original version.

As with any film, there were some rather silly moves that make one shake their head. One big question mark was why go to the island to look for the girl when he saw her in a car accident? Sure, mom said she couldn't get off the island, but clearly he saw her, so clearly she did. I would think a local investigation should come first. That's the biggest point I can't wrap my head around that hurts this version. 

THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS. For another problem, why kill the airplane pilot? He did what they wanted him to do, and he was the only one to bring them supplies. Now who's going to do that? He checked several doors in Summersisle's house looking for her...except the door to the room where she was, and he was right across from it when he ran out. Why not try that last door? Didn't make a lot of sense. There were some things on the ending that tossed me for a loop as well, but one could argue it was part of the ritual. There were quite a few things one can argue over as odd during the island portion, but nearly all of them were setups by the town to lead him on the path they wanted him to be on. Suffice to say, it's not perfect, but few films are.

So, in the end, I did not watch a movie that stunk. If this shared the slate with the likes of Manos, Date Movie, or Friday the 13th Part VIII, I would be the first to say so, but it wasn't that bad. If you have seen the original, prepare for a different film with a similar plot.