Fans, Journalists Attack G.I. Joe Director's Live-Action Jem Reboot

[Arawn]

I'm only guessing that the creators lost rights to Jem or never had them. Not surprising since that's what happened to alot of comic book characters at the time (I think Bob did a story about such things) Jem isn't a bad idea, but it's not a series that could use a reboot. I mean what about Red Sonja? Rather than a cartoon about a musician why not a woman. warrior? If they were to make a movie like Jem's cartoon you'd be left with something akin to that Spice girl movie (sans the bad jokes I hope) Regardless rebooting old shows/movies into new ones isn't a bad practice, it's just that many are bad at doing so. Has anyone see that they're making a Fargo the TV series? Not only that but I hear there's a From Dusk til Dawn series in the work as well. Did either of those movies need such a thing? Not really. I know for a fact there have been sequels to the original Dusk movie, and they weren't that good (not to say the first one was great, but it had it's moments.) It's human nature to try to improve upon things, but sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone. Something becomes popular, gains a following, and wins awards, it's not a cue to try to remake/reinvent. Sometimes it's best to stick with the the classic.

Holy crap! After typing all that I had a brain fart; instead of Jem to Madame Mirage! For those that don't know feel free to google her. Spoiler warning; she uses illusions.

 

[Kyogissun]

I love the people praising the character and its 'originality' and all that. Come on people, I know the idea was cool and all but for the most part, a good number of the characters were really vapid and lacking in distinct personality. I've seen enough episodes to know this to be true. I'd love to see what the movie would be like if the guys who handled the FIRST G.I. Joe movie were handling it!

...You know, were it not for the fact that:
1. They were blocking out any and all input from the original creator (Or any female input as a whole)
2. They were taking their time and not turning this into a quick cash in (Indicated by the three weeks away from shooting thing)
3. Hasbro hadn't run Transformers and potentially will run TMNT into the ground as well
4. The G.I. Joe guys didn't run the series into the ground with Retaliation and its failure to embrace the campy and goofy but awesome and action packed tone they'd barely established in the first film

I mean it's ALWAYS one step forward 2-3 steps back with these fucking reboots. They get cool ideas and ruin them somehow and frankly, I just say fuck it at this point. Either commit to the creativity entirely or don't fucking bother at all!

And the complete and total lack of female input just comes off like shooting themselves in the foot. It'd be ONE thing if they brought female contributors onto the production and they proceeded to not provide anything useful to it but clearly you can't have that happen if they're never there in the first place. And really, why they aren't doing it at least to not risk pissing people off is beyond me. If an idea is bad, you shouldn't be attaching that to gender, you should be recognizing it's a bad idea because it's a bad idea and not because of the persons facts about them.

They've already poisoned the well with this news having gotten out, but tbh I won't be shocked if this goes off without a hitch. It'll probably suck, but nothing much can probably be done about it.

Could have been a cool idea, but I have my doubts now.

 

[FPLOON]

Mark my words now, this will spawn the newest generation of Bronies.

It will be.....odd.

Don't you mean OUTRAGEOUS?
...
Dammit!

OT: Strike 1 to the crew behind this for shunning the creator in the decision making askpect of this reboot. You're basically pulling off a Eric from the Jem show itself, basically... Strike 2 for making the characters orphans, mainly due to how I really do not see that working, given the show's concept... And a Strike 3 for basically dissing everyone else even before you decided when you're going to start shooting this live-action reboot...

...I'm more upset with this than when someone showed me just how similar Rainbow Rocks looked with the right music over it...

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I don't remember much about Jem, but I don't think the director of GI Joe Retribution and a guy who produces horror films are the most qualified to reboot it. Also shutting out the original creator is never a good sign.

I don't know. I used to see ads for Jem all the time, and I thought "you know what this needs? Lots of guns and maybe a serial killer stalking promiscuous teens." Finally, Jem can be done properly!

But yeah, seriously, what the hell? Those are odd choices.

"Odd choices?" That's quite the understatement. While we're at it, why don't we get Micheal Bay on board to complete the ensemble?

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Something tells me that Jem would be big with the transgender crowd. I have nothing but a gut feeling to back that up, so don't jump down my throat. But it ticks the right boxes.

snip

Not implying you are transgender yourself, but you seem to identify with that show. Unfortunately business is not about grievances, it's about money. Jem is a name and idea. It's a foundation. They don't care who's feelings get hurt. They want to put their stamp on it. They want High School musical/ super hero money and this ticks the boxes. It's purely marketing.

 

[Something Amyss]

Either commit to the creativity entirely or don't fucking bother at all!

But that's the thing. This isn't about creativity. It's about licensing a nostalgic property. Hollywood eats them up. I mean, we had a freaking movie about Battleship, FFS. And a FPS about the movie, because gaming has its own set of creativity issues. But I digress.

Retooling Jem has nothing to do with creativity, either. It's no more creative than all the "dark and gritty" retoolings we've got. They want something a little less 80s to get kids invested. I doubt they even care about the adults, because they know that no matter how many times we ***** about them "ruining our childhood," we're going to buy tickets.

I mean, Jem is riskier than GI JOE or TMNT, but Hollywood went out and licensed just about everything.

And it's nothing new.

I mean, this is sort of a tangent, but I just watched the first of the 1990s Addams Family movies. And I really like that movie, but it reminded me of the flood of similar movies that weren't as good: The Flinstones, Dennis the Menace, Coneheads, Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters (Though I think that was straight to video), and so on, and so on, and so on.....

Why were these movies made? It certainly wasn't a creative drive. Half the movies used some variant of a ball-busting gold digger to add a dramatic plot in between sitcom one-liners (Including the Addams Family and its first sequel, because lolwimminzmirite). No, it's because nostalgia is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It goes Dark Side, Light Side, Power Cosmic, Nostalgia, then Batman.

Yeah, they were largely cash-in movies. And honestly, I expect a lot more. Saved By the Bell, where Screech Prime accidentally rewrites the time stream and manages to make Zack even douchier. Gilligan's Island, where it's a reality TV show gone wrong. Doug, where it turns out Doug's real parents were scientists working on a secret project when they died, and it's up to Doug and his dad's old partner to complete it. Darkwing Duck, rebooted to be all Grimdark and completely miss the point of Darkwing. Maybe a Spider-Man with zero sense of hum...Oh, Sam Raimi did that already.

If those ideas all seem uninspired, that's the point.

 

[lostlambda]

I may not know Jem very well but is anyone else disturbed by the fact that its being remade by men. A female heroin and her all female band being remade by men and the guy who "discovered" justin beiber. Plus the original creator shut out there may have been some legal things going on it seems to be just to be a Twilight meets American Idol movie.

 

[Barciad]

Never watched it myself, but my elder sister did, and that is going a long way. I am not surprised that so few of us here have heard of it, seeing how old and obscure it is. One half of me is thinking just how desperate Hollywood is for 'new' material. On the other hand, considering the subject matter, I am slightly intrigued that they didn't go after this one earlier.

 

[Something Amyss]

"Odd choices?" That's quite the understatement. While we're at it, why don't we get Micheal Bay on board to complete the ensemble?

Keep in mind, though, the context of where I'm coming from. I mean, I barely have any fucks to give about Baynage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I grew up on both the cartoons and the comics (Both Archie and Mirage, because I was born a stone's throw away from where the Turtles were created and it was a big deal to my nerd father). So you can imagine how few I have to give when it comes to Jem.

Of course, Jem isn't TMNT or Transformers, and so this might be the only shot fans have for it being on the big screen, so I can see why this might bother them a bit more. I know if TMNT sucks, it'll be back in a few years with a new version I may or may not like. Even if Nolan's Batman movies had blown, we'd see a new Batman eventually (maybe even Batfleck), but Green Lantern will be a harder sell (and he's still not an obscure character).

I guess a bad Jem movie could actually kill the possibility of a franchise. But I'm not a fan personally, so I just have trouble mustering more than "odd."

Especially since I've spent the past two weeks joking about who should be involved in various retro franchises. Michael Bay should do Voltron, Zack Snyder should be involved in He-Man, and on a less popular note I say JJ Abrams should totally reboot Galaxy Rangers.

And on that note, I probably would care more about Galaxy Rangers being tied to a bad reboot because that shows isn't a big one that's guaranteed to return. But I'm surprised we haven't seen 10 He-Man movies since MotU and Voltron's only not done the same because it got caught in development Hell (likely by a robeast....Robeasts ruin everything).

Sorry if I'm rambling. I'm on no sleep, a medication that makes me both loopy and drowsy, and so my brain is just....Not fully operational.

 

[Pinky's Brain]

In my opinion nostalgia movies should be played straight. You find anything from the 80s embarrassing? Not the target audience. Suggesting they should make it some commentary on tie in movies? Yeah, making fun of your main audience ... that's a recipe for success.

The original series plot works just fine for a movie, protag needs success to keep control of the company and forms a band with the evil manager trying to trip her up. For a movie I'd probably make the major part of it a TV talent show, with the Misfits their major competitor ... drop the holographic stuff, it's not that you couldn't make it scifi to fit it in but that's just going to make the movie expensive for little gain. Spend the money on getting good music written.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

"Odd choices?" That's quite the understatement. While we're at it, why don't we get Micheal Bay on board to complete the ensemble?

Keep in mind, though, the context of where I'm coming from. I mean, I barely have any fucks to give about Baynage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I grew up on both the cartoons and the comics (Both Archie and Mirage, because I was born a stone's throw away from where the Turtles were created and it was a big deal to my nerd father). So you can imagine how few I have to give when it comes to Jem.

Of course, Jem isn't TMNT or Transformers, and so this might be the only shot fans have for it being on the big screen, so I can see why this might bother them a bit more. I know if TMNT sucks, it'll be back in a few years with a new version I may or may not like. Even if Nolan's Batman movies had blown, we'd see a new Batman eventually (maybe even Batfleck), but Green Lantern will be a harder sell (and he's still not an obscure character).

I guess a bad Jem movie could actually kill the possibility of a franchise. But I'm not a fan personally, so I just have trouble mustering more than "odd."

Especially since I've spent the past two weeks joking about who should be involved in various retro franchises. Michael Bay should do Voltron, Zack Snyder should be involved in He-Man, and on a less popular note I say JJ Abrams should totally reboot Galaxy Rangers.

And on that note, I probably would care more about Galaxy Rangers being tied to a bad reboot because that shows isn't a big one that's guaranteed to return. But I'm surprised we haven't seen 10 He-Man movies since MotU and Voltron's only not done the same because it got caught in development Hell (likely by a robeast....Robeasts ruin everything).

Sorry if I'm rambling. I'm on no sleep, a medication that makes me both loopy and drowsy, and so my brain is just....Not fully operational.

I didn't say I cared all that much. As I said before, I barely remember Jem. It was something my sister was into, not me. I just find it incredibly bizarre that these guys are the ones to bring it back. It's like if Christopher Nolan were to reboot Barney and Friends.

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

As a fan of MST3K, it's hysterical to me that with all of Hollywood's ability to make SWEET movies, there is less imagination on display now than there was during the 50's and 60's budget Horror movie /sci-fi days. I mean, The Bloodwaters of Dr Z should NOT be able to top ANY movie based on ANY merits, but the bar just gets lower and lower.

At the rate Hollywood is burning through old Ideas, I guess my re-Imagined, Ultra bad-ass, 21st Century re-boot of "The Final Sacrifice" is up soon. Canada's greatest Hero will Ride once again on the Rusted Wheels Of Fate, his trusty 6-pack in the passenger seat. Yes, I speak of ZAP ROWSDOWER! Together with Troy, and the Grizzled Prospector Guy He stops the Dark Cult from enslaving all of Saskatchatoon to his evil will.

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

In my opinion nostalgia movies should be played straight. You find anything from the 80s embarrassing? Not the target audience. Suggesting they should make it some commentary on tie in movies? Yeah, making fun of your main audience ... that's a recipe for success.

The original series plot works just fine for a movie, protag needs success to keep control of the company and forms a band with the evil manager trying to trip her up. For a movie I'd probably make the major part of it a TV talent show, with the Misfits their major competitor ... drop the holographic stuff, it's not that you couldn't make it scifi to fit it in but that's just going to make the movie expensive for little gain. Spend the money on getting good music written.

Everything you said, plus one thought: maybe just set the movie, IN the 80's? It's not as if people cant deal with a movie set in the past.

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

Are you sure we're talking about the same show? Are you just trolling me? Very funny. The show was so bad it made you squirm with embarrassment for the people that were involved with its production. If they left the creator out of the new remake, it's probably the first good idea they had. Did you think Pat Benatar music videos were good?

I'm not trolling and yes the show (what little I saw of it) was horrible, it was just one of those old shows that just bore you to tears, bad story, bad characters, bad music, bad everything.

But that doesn't mean that it can't be turned into something good by someone competent.

All you have to do is go all out if this, Iron Man this *****! You make the woman protagonist be a super smart scientist, she invented super advanced hologram technology when she was young and because of that she is now the owner of her own manufacturing/researching plant and is rolling in cash. She uses this money and tech to travel the world under the guise of solving the worlds problems, while her secret motives are to put on awesome rock shows at night as her secret persona of Jem, a mega rock star.

But all is not well in her life, because she is constantly harassed by the Misfits, a trio of rich bitches living on the money of their parents who resent her success in life because they grew up together in high school where they bullied her or something. Why doesn't our protagonist simply report them to the police you ask? Because they know her secret identity and if she would get the authorities involved they will reveal that to the world, you see she is actually really introverted and fears the fame and all the attention and shit that comes with that. She's always wanted to be cool and an rock star but never had the courage for it, that's why she invented all the holo-tech you see, as well as her (maybe) only friend a sentient super computer that she build.

Now all that could already make for a decent enough movie if you can get a hold of good actors, you need people who can be funny/hate-able enough to play the Misfits, and someone who can believably portray all the needed qualities of the protagonist's two form. You can have a lot of fun with this with all the horrible 80 styles mixed into it, add some really rocking music, awesome animation for the shows and you have a fun movie.

Or you can go the extra mile and go into fully insane mode. Make the hologram tech be super ridicules where the stuff is actually solid and can be used for all sorts of weird shit. Add a genuine super villein for the protagonist to defeat while the misfits are just a comedic nuisance and you got yourself a more heroic main character and a cracked up cool movie.

If you can get the right actors and a competent writer any kind of ridicules story can be fun and entertaining, even Jem.

Unless you want to see a movie about a orphan girl who becomes a sensation on the Internet and glue the name Jem onto it. Which is every bit as dishonest as all the other god awful movies and games re-imaginings that are all the rage these days.

Can Katey Perry act? I could see that working. Or lady Gaga.

 

[Therumancer]

I don't really have much to add to the discussion since I was never really a fan of Jem, and most of what I would have said has been said, so...

Spoiler: I'mma just leave this here.

But really, I hope this adaptation turns out well. If only for the fans sake.

Actually I looked it up since I was curious again. In my earlier post I mentioned Eric as her brother, but I was wrong, it was her father's former partner. It has been a long time. That said I pretty much agree with everything your saying, this attempted re-boot makes no sense whatsoever, if they are going to bother to do that, why even use the "Jem" name instead of making something new? The only people who are likely to respond to the franchise are exactly the people that are going to be irritated by this kind of character-destroying change.

Of course as I pointed out above I think half the problem is that if they kept things true to the original vision, they would have to be dealing with the music industry, and right now with music-executives being viewed in less than a positive light, it might be a hard sell.

 

[Vigormortis]

I don't really have much to add to the discussion since I was never really a fan of Jem, and most of what I would have said has been said, so...

Spoiler: I'mma just leave this here.

But really, I hope this adaptation turns out well. If only for the fans sake.

Actually I looked it up since I was curious again. In my earlier post I mentioned Eric as her brother, but I was wrong, it was her father's former partner. It has been a long time. That said I pretty much agree with everything your saying, this attempted re-boot makes no sense whatsoever, if they are going to bother to do that, why even use the "Jem" name instead of making something new? The only people who are likely to respond to the franchise are exactly the people that are going to be irritated by this kind of character-destroying change.

Of course as I pointed out above I think half the problem is that if they kept things true to the original vision, they would have to be dealing with the music industry, and right now with music-executives being viewed in less than a positive light, it might be a hard sell.

I think you may have quoted the wrong person.

Regardless, you make valid points on the matter.

 

[keniakittykat]

♫Come on, come on and be a Jem-girl. Jem, Jem is my name♫

Oh, god why do I remember this crap? xD
I might even audition just for the hell of it. And who knows, I might even get to see this trainwreck happening up close! From several angles!