Total Rip-Off

May Movie Rip-Offs

Ari Saperstein

Nearly all films are based on previous written material. Whether it's the newest sequel in blockbuster franchise or a romantic comedy we've seen a thousand times before, there's rarely any original ideas in theatres nowadays. What so funny is that almost all the best films are completely new and original ideas. But now, in this big, big month of May with some of the summer's biggest films out, we're going to take a look at eight and scrutinize the script behind it:

Iron Man -- Every summer needs at least three superhero movies, and the Iron Man just happened to be the big summer opener. Of course this is based on the +40 year old comic about a man who an Iron suit tat fights crime. As if there aren't enough superhero movies this summer.

Made of Honor -- in 1997, Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz starred in a movie called "My Best Friend's Wedding", in which Diaz marries Roberts's best friend, and Roberts slowly breaks them up while appearing to help them. She feels threatened by Diaz and feels bad about breaking them up since, as she wants them to be happy. I guess some one decided it would be fun to make the exact same movie, but with the biggest TV star (Patrick Dempsey) in the place of Ms. Roberts. But instead, its not even enjoyable bad, or cheesy bad. It's just bad.

Speed Racer -- It seems that we've come to a point where we're adapting cartoons in live action movies, since that's worked sooooo well (*cough* Rocky and Bullwinkle cough). But now, it's an American cartoon that was originally a Japanese cartoon. This might be the only occasion where there's a Japanese remake that isn't a horror movie.

What Happens in Vegas -- Instead of listing all 287 other rom-coms with the exact same premise, I'll just explain in basic words what this movie is about: Boy meets girl. Boy and girl go to Vegas. Boy marries girl. Girl divorces boy. Boy hates girl, but ends up in love with girl. The end. Need I say more?

Sex and the City -- At least its not The Sopranos or Six Feet Under that they're ruining by making a movie of it four years after the series has ended.

War Inc. -- Not the most commercialized film, but I felt this was important to include. War Inc., is about an assassin that gets involved in a war going on in another country. Not quite a shoot 'em up and not quite a political film, but it falls into the exact same line of genre as "Lord of War" and "Domino". One of the bad genre-less assassin films is one too much for me.

Indiana Jones -- Of course its kick ass since its Jones, but come on, Harrison Ford is 64 years old. He definitely doesn't need the money, and he must have had a couple hundred stunt doubles to do every action scene for him. How he hasn't broken a hip yet and how this movie got made is beyond all logic.

Chronicles of Narnia -- As if we don't have enough children's fantasy novels being turned into movies. Frankly, I can't keep track of all the premises, it all seems to mold together and there becomes a point where I don't know why is Lyra running after the Golden Snitch and why is Harry trying to find the Golden Compass? Not that I don't love Narnia but it all gets a little exhausting if not old after a while.