“Ben-Hur” was hyped for a while, and many expected the film to be a very successful release. Some were more reserved, on the other hand, predicting that this kind of movie can only be either a major success or a huge disappointment. And now that the dust has settled and people have had a good chance to see exactly what the film has to offer, positive responses are rare, as most are panning the experience. Reports about the financial performance of the release aren’t very encouraging either, with claims that it has only made a fraction of its budget on its premiere day.
Critics were particularly negative towards the film in the context of its predecessor, the original 1959 release. Many elements were done better in the previous film, according to some reviewers, most notably the famous chariot race scene. Still, the 2016 “Ben-Hur” did have some redeeming qualities, but they were far from enough to please the critics.
The original film was highly renowned in the movie industry, and it would have taken quite a lot of luck to jump over that bar. At the same time, the new “Ben-Hur” seems to simply lack some fundamental qualities that it needs to captivate its audience, and it also somewhat misses the point of the original. The representation of Christianity in the film has especially come under fire, as the writers have taken certain liberties with the role of Jesus (among other things), changing the tone of the film in a bad way.
Some reviewers are looking at this problem from slightly farther away, claiming that the new film is indicative of a worrying trend in the industry as a whole. Companies seem eager to produce reboots of old classics that nobody has ever asked for, and sometimes they even seem to do so against the wishes of their fans. It’s not rare to see negative responses to the mere announcement of a reboot lately, and some critics are apparently convinced that this trend is only going to become more annoying in the future.
At the same time, there is some obvious potential for quality reboots out there, but studios should probably invest a little more effort into gauging the responses of their fans when discussing such things. It’s not rare to predict if a reboot will be well-liked or not, and Internet forums have made it very easy to see what people think of certain trends.
After the failure of “Ben-Hur”, some movie fans have started trying to predict if there could be bigger flops coming up on the horizon. There are some upcoming releases that could potentially take a lot of flak if they are mishandled, such as the new “Star Wars” or the “Assassin’s Creed” film. The industry as a whole seems to be going through a difficult period, as we’ve seen various poorly produced releases. Hopefully this won’t last long though, and we can enjoy a more interesting 2017.
There is an interesting trend among film fans with regards to these unsuccessful releases that can be observed in discussions on forums and such places; many people seem to be getting fed up with the idea of films being produced almost solely for their visual value, omitting any real plot or depth of the characters in favor of creating flashy scenes. The new “Ben-Hur” arguably suffers from this to some extent as well, and studios could use it as a lesson for how they should approach things in the future.