By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
There can only be one Highlander movie, and that’s the original. This film’s cult appeal lies in the music and how immorality can be a curse. The finer points which included Ancient Celtic beliefs on taking and owning an opponent’s severed head were probably added later. To do so means possessing their power. “The Gathering” these Immortals felt the calling to was not limited to one culture. Whoever survived to become the last gained knowledge to help advance humanity. But they must feel the pain of everyone who died by their blade and face their ghosts. If they survived this trial known as “The Quickening,” then the winner becomes mortal with the powers of ESP.
I’m rather worried that the reboot of this franchise will not live up to everything the original offered. The sad fact is that studio executives wanted to crank out this product as cheaply as possible and hire talents considered hot properties back then. Nothing has changed over the years.
Attempts to reboot the series have had its hurdles. While the original producers seem to be okay with it, not everyone in the fandom community is, myself included.
Peter S. Davis, William N. Panzer and creator, Gregory Widen are the people behind why the original was beloved, warts and all. Ultimately the screenplay for this upcoming reboot is being handled by Ryan J. Condal (Rampage), Kerry Williamson (What Happened to Monday). Both don’t have an impressive resume to inspire confidence in getting the lore right, and unless I hear Widen was in the boardroom to give a lecture of his past drafts and how the past productions went, all anyone can expect is a Michael Bay style movie. The choice for director is Chad Stahelski (John Wick) and I suspect this studio decision is because he knows how to deliver a Samurai vs Ninja style blitzkrieg similar to the revenge trilogy and add plenty of crazy stunts on top.
Whether Henry Cavill has Keanu Reeves gravitas remains to be seen as he’s not a well rounded actor. His legion of fans love him for his good looks. Swooning fan girls is not what this franchise’s box office projections need.
By his own admission, he’s an actor because he loves the money. When controversy follows his career, including tabloids reporting about the younger women he’s dated, some people have learned to stay away from him. He can be Geralt of Rivia in the live-action The Witcher all he wants as he enjoys video games and this lore. As for the boy in blue before and since being hired as Superman, doubts have been raised.
Henry said to press about why he accepts the roles offered to him. ETOnline quoted him as he revealed, “I’m slightly wary of saying this, because it can be frowned upon, certainly by members of my community and people outside my community… but I’m not just doing this for the art,” the 32-year-old actor admitted. “The money’s fantastic and that’s something which I deem—and again, it is frowned upon—very important.”
On wegotthiscovered, “Insider Grace Randolph is claiming that the real reason the actor has been dropped as the DCEU’s Superman is because of his apparent refusal to make the cameo appearance [in the movie Shazam] in person unless he was paid some extra money and got to approve the choice of director for a Man of Steel sequel. No doubt there were other factors at play, but Randolph says that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.”
Cavill likeable in a despised way as a nasty CIA agent in Mission Impossible Fallout. I hope he gets more roles in this front instead of being a good guy.
The news last week about Cavill in talks to appear in Highlander has fans divided. As for whether he can pull off a Scottish accent in this Highlander reboot, I’m not keen to find out. Being of slight Scottish heritage doesn’t mean a thing in an industry that sometimes whitewashes. The hope from some fans is that the producers make him the Krugan, an angry muscle bound monster out to destroy. He’s proved that in Mission Impossible and both versions of Justice League. I suspect the scenes with Lois taming the wild beast had something to do with the decision to court Cavill for a role in Highlander. He’s convinced that he’ll play Connor MacLeod since he and Lambert have a square jaw, and I’ll laugh myself to the ground if the carpet is pulled from under him and he’s made the villain.
