credit: Eraser: Reborn
Being honest is necessary at this time since it’s not difficult in the least to say that a lot of people were willing to give this movie the benefit of the doubt to start with, but some still held their own reservations concerning the idea of a reboot. There is a perfectly good reason for this to be certain, and it’s the fact that the original Eraser, however inaccurate it was when it came to one element or another, was a classic since it had Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Imagine what a brief cameo might have done for this movie or what it could have been like had it followed a completely different story than the movie it took its name from. Those that didn’t get to see the original movie or don’t much care if one action movie follows another might have given this movie a better review, but taking into account that the first movie was likely before their time, it’s fair to state that they don’t have the same point of reference as the rest of us that did see the original movie.
credit: Eraser: Reborn
The story was updated thanks to the advance in technology, but it could have gone in a different direction and been much better.
Of course, over two decades later, it was bound to happen that the technology would improve since the original movie came out in 1996 when cell phones were already a thing, but smartphone technology hadn’t been available for more than a couple of years, and it hadn’t come close to reaching the sophistication it has now.
On top of that, the story revolved heavily around the railguns, which was a fine piece of fiction since a railgun is a heavy piece of machinery that even Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t have lifted with both hands. This movie did work with the technology available and did what it could to tell a compelling story, but whether it was the fact that it stood in the shadow of the first movie or because it felt like a bad idea from the first mention, it would appear that a lot of people felt that it simply wasn’t a worthwhile successor to the first.
Vanessa Williams didn’t have a perfect character, but she was far more effective than the female lead in this movie.
Somehow Jacky Lai doesn’t come off as a great character since one has to guess at her motivations throughout the movie but one could find that it’s like trying to ask a young child what they want for dessert since her character switches from being cocky, independent, angry, scared, and then back and forth along the spectrum of emotions over and over until one has to wonder if she’s even worth saving since it feels likely that she’ll end up cussing her savior out before stating that she’s a strong woman who doesn’t need a man but could use one to kiss at an opportune moment. Yeah, that’s kind of how her character comes off, as she doesn’t appear capable of holding onto a single emotion for long enough to establish whether or not she’s a genuine character.
The thing about Vanessa William’s character in the original movie is that she knew she was in over her head, but she was willing to cooperate with the feds anyway and was only snarky when she felt that things were going a bit too far. But she toughened up a bit throughout the movie in a fashion that was believable, rather than becoming an emotional chameleon that could dance from one emotion to the next in a matter of seconds.
credit: Eraser: Reborn
The term ‘knockoff’ does come to mind.
Slapping the ‘Reborn’ portion of the title on this movie feels like a serious lack of confidence since if it had been a sequel, one could have understood, as it would have made a lot more sense and could have earned a bit more respect. But that one portion of the title makes it feel as though the people making the movie decided to hedge their bets by giving the title a bit of an extra kick to see if it would help.
Sadly, it didn’t. A sequel would have been easier to respect than this movie since it could have created a sense that time had gone past, and the original character could have retired and passed the torch, so to speak. But that might have made too much sense, and as always, that doesn’t appear to be the plan.
The changes that did occur weren’t exactly improvements.
Watching this movie was like watching the first version with new characters added into each part, and while some might have found the action and effects impressive, it was like watching a graduate film student’s attempt at recreating something that people had already decided they enjoyed.
In other words, it’s not a horrible movie, far from it, but following the same storyline as the original and only tweaking things here and there to keep it updated didn’t really pan out. ‘Reborn’ kind of implies that things might be different this time around. Someone might have missed the memo.
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