The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Before I go any further I should say something. I liked the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I thought it was a great horror movie, I even liked it better than the original. That said, I wasn't very fond of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning".

 "My name is Gunnery Sgt. Hartman" is all I can think when I see this.

 

R. Lee Ermey was great in the remake, but in this he seemed to be more evil than Leatherface. It was sad to see this guy be scarier than the giant chainsaw wielding mutant.

Jordana Brewster while cute, was not as appealing as Jessica Biel or as good an actress sadly. Her character was almost a copy of Biel's from the remake. She and Mathew Bomer even have the same "just about to get engaged" plot as Biel and Mike Vogel from the remake.


This might have been the photo that got Diora Baird the part in the movie.

There were plenty of uncomfortable scenes in this movie, but the one after this one was just boring. Watching R. Lee Ermey yell at someone and hit them while they do push-ups was great in "Full Metal Jacket" but just silly here.


This part allowed for Brewster to escape, make it to another town and bring in the cavalry. She didn't do that, she instead relied on the scary biker guy to save the day. Never depend on a biker to save the day, unless he's in "The Sons of Anarchy".


Another disappointing thing about this movie was the way Leatherface was presented. In the remake and the original, Leatherface was like a force of nature. He chased you down and dismembered you, old school murder at it's finest. In this one he did that Jason Voorhees teleportation trick. He's running behind the person, then BAM he's in front of them. Now, there was no way to get around them that we could see, yet somehow he managed.

The background of the family was a little to neat as well.  It made it seem that the whole murder spree could be explained by just one bad day. 

I would have much rather seen a sequel to the remake than a prequel to it.  They could have explored what happened to Leatherface after he lost his arm, maybe showed Biel's character go back for revenge.  I'm not opposed to remakes, but prequels to remakes are never a good idea.