In a world where movie studios are averse to risk, remakes and reboots have become Hollywood’s bread and butter. Sometimes, those reboots are from films nobody saw, creating movies you didn’t realize were actually remakes. Other times these new versions are so bad, the movie reboots had to be rebooted again.Â
In the best instances, a director, a script, or an actor makes the whole thing worth it, giving new life to some idea that had become stale. When this happens, it's pure magic. Especially, when an actor transforms the character and story into something new, exciting, and better. From the Joker performance that set a new benchmark for comic villains to the best 007 ever, vote up which actors did it better in a remake or reboot.
Who Did They Play: Rick O’Connell
Changing the story from a horror film about a resurrected mummy into an Indiana Jones-style caper with Fraser as the adventurer made all the difference in this reboot. He filled the movie with fun and thrills, while his romantic chemistry with Rachel Weisz was off the charts.
Who Did They Play: Joker
Heath Ledger imbued his performance with the scariest parts of the Joker, making him an agent of chaos, a lover of mind games, and one who could seemingly kill anyone at any moment. This incredible performance made Ledger the first actor ever to win an Oscar for playing a comic book character.
Who Did They Play: MacReady
Russell can be charismatic easily. In The Thing, he went for a much more subdued, cautious, and alert personality while still being the character everyone wants near while trying to survive a parasitic alien, making him a better presence than anyone in the original film.
Who Did They Play: Tony Montana
The Scarface film made in 1932 never became part of the cultural zeitgeist, yet this version did thanks to Brian De Palma’s direction and Al Pacino’s performance. If the actor wasn’t one of the greatest ever, he would still be remembered for this spectacular, crazy, loud performance as his Tony Montana has become as iconic as they come.
Who Did They Play: Caesar
The difference between playing the character with motion capture instead of a mask helped Serkis, but he also gave Caesar a much more layered performance, showing every emotion going through the apes head. The character stood at the center of the new era of the franchise, and the success of the trilogy can be attributed to the actor playing him.
Who Did They Play: George Banks
Although Martin and Spencer Tracy couldn’t have more different comedic sensibilities, Martin gave the character new emotions to play, following the era when he played it. Did he play him in a broader comedic way with many more quirky shenanigans? Yes. Did it work? Absolutely.
