In a way I wouldn’t hesitate to agree with Chris Evangelista of Slashfilm in saying that John Carpenter’s movies are usually best left alone since they’re HIS movies and they were done just fine the first time around. But in trying to bring back Escape from New York, which was better than many people tend to realize, it’s easy to think that one person should be able to do justice to the character of Snake Plissken, and that one person happens to be related to the actor that made the role so great in the first place. Wyatt Russell might not be quite as impressive as his father, yet, but it’s always possible he could take on the role and see how it pans out. If nothing else it’s a good chance for him to stretch his acting chops even further since by all accounts he’s been doing pretty well thus far. The role of Snake isn’t the most iconic that Russell has ever done but it’s definitely up there since he made the character into a cult classic that a lot of people still happen to care about. Unfortunately the second movie, Escape from LA, didn’t do the story a lot of favors since it was hard to swallow despite the fact that Snake was still Snake, which is thankfully something that can’t be taken away.
This time however, if the movie does get made, it would likely be better off advancing things at least a century into the future, or at least half that amount since it would grant the movie a better chance to either be forgotten or justified once that span of time had finally passed. If you recall, Escape from New York was predicting that Manhattan would become one massive prison after crime escalated by 400 percent throughout the country. The story takes place in 1997, a year that has long since come and gone, kind of like 2015 did with Back to the Future, and while Manhattan might not be a perfect location in all ways it’s still not the prison that many were shown in Carpenter’s movie. This time around it might be better to advance the timeline if only to make certain that it would be a little more believable. That, and attributing the issue of creating a prison city might need a little better explanation than a rise in crime. The ideas for the story and how to start it out are endless but the important part would be to keep the gist of the story alive by somehow making it happen that the president of the United States is still abducted or shot down over the prison city and is need of rescue.
Wyatt Russell has already shown that he has what it takes to accomplish the task of taking over where his father left off, but it’s a matter of whether people are going to want to see Snake Plissken replaced by another actor or not. After all it’d be kind of like trying to find a replacement for Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China, it’s always possible but it’s not always desired. One day someone will work up the nerve to do such a thing, but at this point and time Escape from New York is ballsy enough, especially since Kurt Russell is considered to be such a screen legend. Even having his kid step in for him is an iffy proposition at this point since Snake Plissken is a one of a kind character that, despite any further arguments, fans would love to see left alone. But given that people are already looking hopeful for this movie let’s be fair and say that it can’t be just anyone. There are many likely candidates that would be great in this role and that could possibly make it work, but for someone that looks enough like Kurt, can act like Kurt, and has roughly the build and the attitude that Kurt had for this role, let’s just say that Wyatt has the inside track and would hopefully have his father’s blessing for a project of this magnitude.
Whether or not we’ll actually see this movie remade is hard to say, but it’s on the short list of movies that I’d actually like to see be given a chance since the original was great, but with the advances in technology and storytelling it could be a little better with a few additions as well. Nothing really needs to be taken out, the rise in crime could even be kept and things would be just fine, but overall the one thing that needs to happen is that Wyatt needs to be given this role and it might even be nice to see a cameo of Kurt just to make things a little better.
Follow Us
