Worst2First: My Top Ten Reboot Films

Worst2First: My Top Ten Reboot Films

With the "Ghostbusters" reboot coming out, I decided to do a top ten list of my favorite reboot movies.  First of all, there is a difference between a remake and a reboot:

Remake: A film that honors the source material and gives an almost shot-for-shot of the original.  Although some aspects might've been changed, it's mostly an updated version of the original.  Examples of this include the Anne Heche "Psycho," the recent "Poltergeist," and the Nicolas Cage disaster "The Wicker Man."

Reboot: A complete overhaul of the original material, where small similarities can be found (same character names, settings, etc.), but on the whole it's a new, original story based off something already existing.  The new "Ghostbusters" fits into this category, because it's an all-female cast instead of an all-male cast, yet it keeps some aspects of the original (the overall theme, some cast members such as Slimer and the State Puft Marshmallow Man, and the Ecto-1).

That being said, here are ten films that I consider are reboots (although some might disagree) that are the best, Worst2First.

**There will be no spoilers.**

#10

Godzilla

Based off the beloved Japanese titular character from 1954, "Monsters" director Gareth Edwards re-imagines the famous creature of old in its best incarnation since the original (totally bypassing that awful Matthew Broderick reboot of the late 90s).  Here, Godzilla is not the only creature unleashed, and it could be the key to mankind's survival.  The effects were amazing, Godzilla looked the best he ever has, and there was a stellar supporting cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche and Ken Watanabe.

#9

Captain America: The First Avenger

Some might ask how this is a reboot, but for the very few who knew about it (and even fewer who might've enjoyed it), there was a straight-to-video movie about Steve Rogers back in 1990, which was easily one of the worst versions of Captain America in any format.  Thankfully, Marvel decided to re-invent ole Cap for a new century, bringing in Chris Evans to yield the shield, and the result is a new life for an old soul.  "The First Avenger" might not be the best Marvel film, but it paved the way for stellar outings "The Winter Soldier" and especially "Civil War," as well as integrating Captain America into the "Avengers" series.

#8

Ocean's Eleven

The original 1960 film featured the "Rat Pack" (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., etc) as former World War II vets who set out to rob five Las Vegas casinos.  In 2001, director Steven Soderbergh rebooted the film featuring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and their friends as they plan on robbing three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.  The result is a hilarious crime caper filled with action, dry humor and intelligence, and spawning two successful sequels (with word of an all-female re-reboot in the works).

#7

Star Trek

The modern god of science fiction is undoubtedly J.J. Abrams, who created such television classics as "Lost," "Fringe" and "Alias," and also took his intelligence and knowledge of all things sci-fi to the big screen, rebooting the Gene Roddenberry classic "Star Trek" for a new generation.  Here, we're re-introduced to Kirk, Spock, Uhura and the rest of the Enterprise crew in a unique and different way: an alternate reality.  Abrams holds true to the original source material by bringing in the original Spock, the late, amazing Leonard Nimoy, to serve as the bridge between the classic and the new, and by integrating his personal prowess for drawing in a crowd, Abrams made Star Trek cool again.

#6

The Bourne Identity

Matt Damon's incarnation of the super soldier Jason Bourne was the first to grace the big screen, but it was a reboot from a television miniseries in 1988 featuring Richard Chamberlain as Bourne himself.  The reboot featured much more epic fight sequences and effects, and also a more modern tale that drew audiences in droves, spawned two sequels, a reboot of itself (the not-mentioned "Legacy"), and another sequel being released this month.

#5

X-Men: First Class

With "The Last Stand," it looked like the X-Men franchise was dead and gone.  The film was universally panned as one of the worst, and it took five years to finally deliver a new X-Men film to the big screen.  Totally ignoring the previous three outings (with the exception of a Wolverine cameo), this new trilogy took us way back to 1962, as we're introduced to the younger Professor X, Magneto and Mystique, as the Professor begins drawing mutants to him in order to combat the villainous Sebastian Shaw.  This film re-ignited the love for the X-Men, especially due to powerful performances by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, and spawning its own trilogy which featured "Days of Future Past," which was the best X-Men film in the entire franchise.

#4

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Charleton Heston classic tale of a man living in a world ruled by apes was a huge success back in 1968, and delivered a series of sequels.  Then, in 2001, Tim Burton decided to reboot the franchise with Mark Wahlberg, and it was an unmediated disaster.  It looked like the apes were doomed, but then director Rupert Wyatt once again rebooted the franchise, going back to its roots with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," showing us what happened to the world before Heston arrived, before the apes ruled, and when humanity was still the dominant species.  It was a compelling tale, and featured modern CGI effects featuring Andy Serkis (who is THE go-to person for performance-capture technology) as Caesar, the leader of the apes.  Wyatt made you really feel for the ape, giving him a personality, heart and intelligence, and featured a supporting cast including James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Tom Felton.

#3

Casino Royale

The Bond series goes through different reboots through the centuries, casting different actors as the world-famous super spy, and in 2006 director Martin Campbell rebooted the franchise once again, returning to its roots, tackling Ian Fleming's first Bond novel and making it modern, hip and cool for today's generation.  Here, Bond isn't the confident, calm and collected spy we've known, but someone who's rather new to the field, yet still exudes confidence and tactical precision that shows us how he became the best spy in the world.  Daniel Craig was the best actor to play Bond since Sean Connery, and spawned some so-so sequels but also gave us one of Bond's best outings, the epic "Skyfall."

#2

Mad Max: Fury Road

In 1979, an unknown actor named Mel Gibson brought to life the story of Max, a man living in a post-apocalyptic world who sets out to get revenge on those who killed his family.  It was a huge success and spawned several sequels, and then it disappeared.  Then, in 2015, the original director, George Miller (now in his 70s), decided to reboot the franchise and featured Tom Hardy as the titular role.  What resulted was a brilliant blend of action, old-fashioned effects, a new heroine in Charlize Theron's Furiosa, and also earned six Oscar awards.  Sometimes its worth waiting for something this amazing.

 

#1

Batman Begins

Epic director Christopher Nolan brings the Caped Crusader back to his roots with "Batman Begins," as he explores what makes Bruce Wayne the Batman, and the result is a comic book movie that you can really call a film, due to its stellar acting, effects, and grounded acting.  Gone are the silly, over-the-top antics of Batman and his nemeses (no Mr. Freeze jokes here), and Gotham doesn't look like a rejected Tim Burton Christmas.  Here, Batman is introduced as a real man, living in a real town with real problems and real villains, and makes him more believable and vulnerable, as well as downright frightening.  Plus the new series spawned one of the best films (superhero or otherwise) in recent memory, "The Dark Knight."