I was expecting a bit better of a remake here. While I don't think it is quite in line with how bad critics are saying it is, it's not amazing. The songs are similar to the original's, albeit a bit "fresher" here with a hip hop tone. The story is similar to the original, except for Stacks (Foxx) is not just a business man, he is a political candidate and the CEO of a popular cellular company, similar to Verizon. There is some product placement, and some focus on extrinsic motivations and "things", but I didn't feel it was the main focus of the film or detracted from the story too much. I thought the reincarnations of the music were pleasant for the most part, although there were moments where characters burst into song that didn't feel quite right and Cameron Diaz singing was
less than amazing. The sets and scale of the musical pieces were also not as well orchestrated or as grand as the original. One would think that while redoing "Annie", you would have to come big, as well as different, and the big and grand is just not here. The soundtrack is very good, but the movie just feels hollow and not well thought out. The kids seemed to like it a lot, and while not legendary, definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of the original or a different kind of family movie for the holidays.
Review of Annie
