The Manchurian Candidate is a rare example of a remake thatbrings something new to the table while keeping the old themes.
In Jonathan Demme's Manchurian Candidate, Maj. Ben Marco (DenzelWashington) and his soldiers come under enemy fire in Desert Stormand are saved by soldier Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), who isawarded the Medal of Honor. The problem is that one by one,soldiers admit that their terrible nightmares, identical everynight, are the same.
Instead of their war memories, they remember patches of beingbrainwashed and indoctrinated, circuits rewired in their heads.
Marco knows that Shaw is the key to discovering for what purposechips were implanted under the soldiers' skin and goes to find himin Washington, where Shaw is the newly-nominated vice presidentialcandidate of the United States.
With the suspiciously-sweet Rosie (Kimberly Elise) caring forhim, Marco chases the truth through a web of political corruptionthat leads to Shaw's mother, Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep),and a global political corporation puppetmaster, Manchurian GlobalCorporation.
There are those trying to both hide and expose the truth,including Sen. Thomas Jordan (Jon Voight) and former soldier AlMelvin (Jeffrey Wright), who butt against a strong enemy.
It is a race against the clock to release the mind control ofthe implants before Marco does what the implants tell him to do:kill the president.
The ending surprised me and left me feeling that conspiracytheories are not so far-fetched.
Through matching today's fears with today's version of the film,The Manchurian Candidate rings true. In a world where Gulf WarSyndrome was denied for so long, it does not seem highly unlikelythat advanced medical technology could be employed in soldierswithout their permission. With the current political climate andfear the movie reflects, it is not inconceivable that a presidentcould be insincere and be a pawn for corporate interests.
While the villain in the original film was communism, thisfilm's is the corporation -- a greed-based, faceless creature withmore power and influence than traditional channels of power, suchas democracy or faith. And in a world with Enron, it's not too biga stretch.
The acting was well done. Streep is as comical as she isfrightening in her role as a touching, overzealous and misledpolitical animal with lines like, "The assassin always dies, baby.It's necessary for the national healing."
Liev Schreiber does a great job in his complex role -- perhapssome of his ability to capture the face of freedom ending rubbingoff from his previous role as Orson Welles in RKO 281.
You can certainly enjoy this movie even if you had never heardof the original. It has the suspense and cinematography to keep youinvolved. Where The Manchurian Candidate stands out is that itinstills the fear that while no one is paying attention,self-serving organizations are hatching a plan, a fear that stayswith you long after the credits roll.
