The 4 best and 4 worst movie remakes of 2024, according to critics
From "Mean Girls" to "The Crow," some movie remakes lived up to the expectations set by the originals, while others missed the mark.
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Jojo Whilden/Paramount
- Remaking movies has been a popular strategy for Hollywood executives.
- "Nosferatu" has received positive reviews ahead of its December 25 international release.
- But Rupert Sanders' "The Crow" didn't need a resurrection.
Hollywood loves a reboot.
In January, "Mean Girls" completed its 20-year journey from film to Broadway musical to musical movie; in May, Chris Pratt revived "Garfield"; and in December, Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu" will enter theaters again more than one hundred years after its silent film debut in 1922.
It's clear the industry has no intention of retiring old IP … and why should it?
"Mean Girls" and "The Garfield Movie" grossed upward of $100 million and $200 million, respectively, according to Box Office Mojo, suggesting that audiences are willing to buy the nostalgia they're being sold, even if they're not asking for it.
Before 2025 brings even more Disney live-action remakes — this time in the form "Snow White" and "Lilo & Stitch" — more "Jurassic World" action, and yet another "Superman," here's a look back at the best and worst movie remakes of the year, according to critics.
Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office Mojo data were accurate as of December 16.
Amazon Prime Video
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter who's been recruited to be bouncer at a bar in the Florida Keys, in this remake of Patrick Swayze's 1989 action adventure.
Critics' reactions to the film were mixed. The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday wrote, "Remaking 'Road House' is a supremely dumb idea, so it's fitting that it has morphed into a self-consciously dumb movie," while Time Out's Phil de Semlyen gave the film a three out of five star rating, writing, "The combination of Gyllenhaal's easy charm, some Florida sunshine and at least one fight scene for the ages make this 'Road House' worth stopping by. Just try to grab a seat in a quiet corner."
Focus Features
Written by Diablo Cody ("Jennifer's Body," "Juno," "Tully") and directed by Zelda Williams (daughter of the late Robin Williams), this new interpretation of "Frankenstein" brings audiences back to the 1980s as teenager Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) develops a relationship with a revived corpse (Cole Sprouse) and causes mayhem in her town.
"'Lisa Frankenstein' tries to thread a delicate needle, stitching together a mix of horror, comedy, romance, and teen angst, all while adopting a decidedly off-kilter tone," Brian Lowry wrote for CNN. "The result is an interesting misfire, yielding a few amusing moments while adding up to considerably less than the sum of its parts."
Meanwhile, The Wrap's Lex Briscuso found that the genrebending film "makes for a ridiculously brilliant spin on a timeless story over 200 years old."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
In the newest "Garfield" movie — it's a reboot of the Garfield franchise, which began in 2004 with "Garfield: The Movie" — the lovably lazy tabby cat (voiced by Chris Pratt) meets his long-lost father and goes on a high-stakes adventure to steal … milk.
Mark Kennedy wrote for the Associated Press that the film is "a curious new animated attempt to monetize the comic icon again by giving him an origin story and then asking him to do things a galaxy away from what he does in the funny pages. It's like if Snoopy ran an underground bare-knuckle fight club."
Yet, it was a box-office success, grossing $234.5 million at the global box office.
Lionsgate
Critics' worst-rated remake of the year was Rupert Sanders' "The Crow," a remake of the 1994 film with the same title. Starring Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs as murdered lovers Eric Draven and Shelly Webster, the film follows Draven's resurrection from the afterlife to avenge their deaths and save Webster.
"'The Crow' is not a waste of talent or resources; worse, it just hangs there on the screen, as undead as Eric himself," Ryan Lattanzio wrote for IndieWire.
Jojo Whilden/Paramount
Looks like Tina Fey is still trying to make fetch happen, and with some success, too. Rather than a direct remake of the 2004 classic, 2024's "Mean Girls" is actually a film version of the adapted Broadway musical, complete with songs like "Meet The Plastics," led by Renée Rapp as Regina George, and "Stupid With Love," led by Angourie Rice as Cady Heron.
"It turns out that 'Mean Girls: The Musical: The Movie' is pretty good, and likely to succeed at its primary purpose, which is to remind you that the original 'Mean Girls' is fun. The movie gets by via a relentlessly self-deprecating awareness of the absurdity of its own existence," Jackson McHenry wrote for Vulture.
He added, "Mean girls are everywhere, even among the mathletes. And so long as they flourish, we'll keep returning to 'Mean Girls.'"
Universal Pictures
Loosely based on the 1980s TV show "The Fall Guy," 2024's film stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt as stuntman Colt Seavers and director Jody Moreno. When the star of Moreno's directorial debut goes missing, it's up to Seavers — her former flame — to save the show.
Maureen Lee Lenker wrote for Entertainment Weekly that the movie is "a joy-ride of a summer blockbuster that packs all the right punches from its action sequences to its chemistry-laden central romance to its meta love for the movies and the unsung heroes who make them feel real."
"Every frame is a testament to [director David Leitch's] love for movies — and a reminder of why we should love them (and the people who make them), too," she added.
Universal Pictures
As a remake of the same-titled Danish film from 2022, director James Watkins follows an American family (Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Alix West Lefler) traveling to the English countryside to stay with a family they met while on vacation in Italy (James McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi, Dan Hough). But their weekend getaway quickly turns into something far more sinister.
"Watkins has rewired the film's dynamics, switching our focus from the beset husband to Davis's uptight wife. He's made his remake more Hollywood, but, for my money, he's also made it more fun to talk about afterward — and during — arranging his plot beats to encourage the audience to howl advice at the screen," Amy Nicholson wrote for The Washington Post.
Focus Features
Director Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu" is the highest-rated remake of the year. Starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, and more, this remake of 1922's iconic silent film, "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror" — and its 1979 and 1992 successors "Nosferatu the Vampyre" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" — follows Depp as Ellen Hutter, a young woman haunted by disturbing visions and the subject of a vampire's obsession. Though the film is set for international release on December 25, it's already garnered more than 90 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Exciting, repulsive, and beautiful in equal measure, this feels like something the writer-director has been working toward since his unsettling 2016 debut feature, 'The Witch,'" David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter.
"It's thrilling to experience a movie so assured in the way it builds and sustains fear, so hypnotically scary as it grabs you by the throat and never lets go," he added.
