Directed By: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Romain Duris, L’Auberge Espagnole, Bérénice Bejo, Matilda Lutz, and Finnegan Oldfield
Plot Summary: Oscar® winner Michel Hazanavicius’ remake of Shin’ichirô Ueda’s cult hit One Cut of the Dead follows a director (Romain Duris, L’Auberge Espagnole) charged with making a live, single-take, low-budget zombie flick in which the cast and crew, one by one, actually turn into zombies. Featuring hysterically unhinged performances from Oscar® nominee Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Matilda Lutz (Revenge), and Finnegan Oldfield (Corsage), Final Cut is a sly love letter to the art of filmmaking and a blood-soaked, hilarious genre farce with a meta-to-the-max premise.
One Cut of the Dead was one of those cool little indie movies that was just like capturing lightning in a bottle. Even Shin’ichirô Ueda’s follow-up film Special Actors tried to do something similar, but while it had its admirable qualities, it was nowhere near as clever as One Cut of the Dead. So, imagine our shock when it was announced that we were getting a French remake, which sort of acts like a sequel (more on that later). As a huge fan of the original Japanese film, we were excited to see what another country could do with this premise. Not much, as it turns out.
Before delving into this mess, you have to give credit very much where it’s due. For those not familiar with the original film, the portion of the film that is supposed to be live, there are zero cuts. This means that, just like the actors in the film within a film, everything is staged like a play, to capture it all in real time. To say this is challenging is a massive understatement. It seriously staggers your brain thinking about trying to pull this off. This aspect of the remake is done extremely well. There are a few jokes that land, and dare we say, some work better than the original. However, sadly, that is where the praise ends.
Final Cut manages to do something that was thought impossible. That is, to strip all the fun, joy and creativity from the core of One Cut of the Dead. While there is some preexisting tension among cast and crew members, Michel Hazanavicius feels the need to add extra drama and unpleasantness. The added conflict does not really mesh well, and it feels forced. This throws off the entire film’s tone, and it is a sour note that is hard to shake off. To give you an example, a cringe-worthy Pearl Harbor joke is made, because that’s the level of comedy we are working with here. Oh, and do you like gross-out fart and poop jokes? No? Too bad. You get it whether you want it or not. It adds all this figurative and literal crap, when it’s not just being a shot-for-shot remake of the original. And, because this is so devoid of its own ideas, this seems to be sequel of sorts, bringing back an original character, mentioning the original “live event” and even throwing in some clips from One Cut of the Dead. The pacing is thrown off, and this easily could have used 10 or 15 minutes trimmed.
Your brain just keeps going back to, why? Sure, you do want to applaud them for being able to carry off the segments without any cuts. But Final Cut doesn’t have anything interesting to add to the previous film, nor does it attempt to correct some of the shaggy elements of One Cut of the Dead. Now, while it seems counterintuitive to say this, but another attempt in the form of an American remake would be interesting. Again, you could use the same basic setup but add some new elements and surprises whilst also throwing out some of the more dated tropes from the original film.
While this movie isn’t lazy in terms of technique, it delivers a dead-on-arrival script that doesn’t do anything new, nor does it archive the magic and joy of One Cut of the Dead.
Final Cut will debut in theaters on July 14, 2023 courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Final Cut doesn’t have anything interesting to add to the previous film, nor does it attempt to correct some of the shaggy elements of One Cut of the Dead.
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GVN Rating 4
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Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.