Rocky Horror – Let’s Do The Time Warp Again

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Let’s Do The Time Warp Again

For those of you who don’t know the plot to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, here it is

A straitlaced, square couple, seeking shelter from a storm, find themselves in the castle of a transsexual alien mad scientist intent on creating a buff bodybuilder.

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This has been called a lot of things since it was announced, a remake, an homage, a re-invention, so I’m not really sure what it should be called; all I can tell you is that the plot is the same, the characters from the original are all there, and the setting is the same. There are minor differences but in essence it’s the same film with a different cast and better production values (although that’s debatable at times)

I’m a huge fan of the original with Tim Curry and Richard O’Brien, so I was a little dubious before I watched this; I’m not going to say it’s terrible, as some fans have been doing – they have their right to that opinion – but it does suffer by comparison, and I very much doubt that RHPS would have become the classic it is if this had been the first version.

The songs, for the most part, remain as they were in the original, and that is to the good since they are a large part of what made it so popular, but they don’t seem to be sung with the same enthusiasm and enjoyment as was the case with Tim Curry et al. The only exception to this is Victoria Justice (I confess I may be a little biased here because I think she’s gorgeous) who does seem to enjoy herself to the extreme and to have a lot of fun with the role, which coupled with her being a very good singer makes her the best in this as far as I’m concerned.

I think the biggest misfire for me is Adam Lambert, it isn’t that he’s bad, not at all, it’s just that from what I’ve seen a big thing is made of his being a part of the show but he’s barely in it – he plays Eddie, who *spoiler* is killed shortly after arriving on screen.

Other problems for me are; Tim Curry as the criminologist, I’m pleased that he had a part in this but, and I don’t like to say this, the stroke he had in 2012 means he isn’t able to bring the role to life as he once would have; the overall appearance, the sets and the costumes and the overall production are all decent, but they look too clean, the original had a dirtiness (I’m not sure that’s quite the right word for it) that made everything appear used and lived in, whereas in this version it all looks brand new and therefore a little false.

Overall, I think people who have never seen the original are going to like this more than those who are already fans of RHPS, nonetheless, if you approach this with the right attitude, it’s a fun evening’s entertainment, and you still get to enjoy singing along to the songs.

In case you need an extra reason for watching this here’s Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan in their underwear.