It Sure Isn't Your Grandfather's Fly

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2005)

David Cronenberg makes a somewhat faithful, yet completely stirring remake of the ultimate insect movie - The Fly. I really enjoyed this movie because of its suspenseful storytelling, ability to make you care about the characters, wonderful if not over-the-top special effects, and Cronenberg's obvious touches dealing with nature and man's interference with it. Jeff Goldblum does a very workmanlike job playing a scientist trying to work out the bugs(OK, an obvious pun) with his work in teleportation - very much like the protagonist in the original Fly. Apart from the work and the mix up with the fly when sending himself, there are very few comparisons between this film and the original. I like both versions as entities unto themselves and do not think that any grand comparison between the two is necessary or even warranted because of the completely different natures of the plot. Goldblum, having won the affections of Amazon beauty intensified in Geena Davis, sends himself when inebriated. He soon starts to exhibit characteristics that ultimately make him discover he has fly DNA mixed with his own. He starts to have fibrous hairs grow from his back, an insatiable appetite for sweets, and soon can climb walls. Davis watches by as her lover slowly decays. At the heart of all this terrible affair dealing with Goldblum transforming into a human fly is a love story between Goldblum and Davis. It is touchingly done considering its backdrop and Cronenberg behind the camera. Don't expect the fly to look anything like the classic fly of the fifties - this one is completely different. David Cronenberg once again shows us why he is one of the best in the genre. He wrote this creative script and directs with style that is undeniably David Cronenberg. Certainly this is one of the greatest horror remakes of all time and one of the best horror films of that otherwise barren decade - the 1980s.