(More than a) Quick Look: Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

This a reboot of the original Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and one of many horror movie reboots that appear to still be flooding industry over the last several years.  Some elements are the same, and some scenes from the movie appear to be "borrowed" from the original, but there enough elements and facets that allow the 2010 version to have its own distinction from the 1984 movie. 

The Good:

Freddy Kruger (Jackie Earle Haley) has returned to being a purely evil character - the one-liners that drove Freddy and this series to a more comical tone than scary one, are gone.  Using new characters mixed with just a few old ones allows the audience to not have to do a side by side comparison to the original, plus the progression of the film is not as predictable.  Also using not-so-established actors, as the first one did, allows us to see fresh faces.

The Bad:

The scenes/clips that were "borrowed" from the first film almost felt forced, as if they had to build around these scenes with the rest of the film.  This seemed especially true when Kris (Katie Cassidy) was killed, and Jesse (Thomas Dekker) goes to jail as the suspect, then is subsequently killed while in jail (very remnant of Tina being killed and Rod going to jail and being killed).  The reveal that the teenage victims all knew each other in pre-school but then did not seem to know each other again until high school was a reach, at best, in addition to the fact that they were all molested by Freddy and seemed to forget about this, as well.  Some of the teenagers did not "seem" genuinely afraid of the situation, either.  Nancy, the protagonist of the 1984 version, is not portrayed as likeable in her 2010 character.

Side by Side :

Freddy still uses the glove with knife blades, and was burned to death by an angry mob in 2010, like the 1984 version.  He is revealed to be a child molester in this film vs. the child murderer he was labeled as in 1984.  Interestingly Wes Craven wanted the original Freddy to be a child molester, however, there were some child molestation cases going on in California at the time of production, so it was decided Freddy being a killer was the way to go.  Nancy, her mom, and Freddy are the only characters with the same names (and even Nancy's last name is different).  While Freddy in 1984 seemed more interested in terrorizing the teenagers in their dreams as it was portrayed on the screen, while Freddy in 2010 appears more interested in killing them only.  At least that is how it was portrayed.    

Being a fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, as well as the TV show Freddy's Nightmares, I knew I would eventually watch this movie.  Going into it with low expectations allowed me to give it the proverbial "chance".  There were no new thrills or chills, so it is tough to call it scary.  Even though there were the noted differences, the conclusion was still very predictable.  It seems as if the prodcuers and director tried hard to honor the original yet make their own movie, but could not reconcile either world.

Haley's Freddy portrayal was decent enough.  In fact, Haley is committed to at least 2 more Nightmare movies.  

I would recommend the reboot to Nightmare series fans, as much to draw your own conclusions about its place in the series,  more than a recommendation of this being a good film.  If you have never seen another Nightmare on Elm Street movie, you might actually enjoy this one a little more than a long standing fan.