Reshaping, Part Three

I was yesterday getting deeper into how I would change up the story for "Friday The Thirteenth Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan". I mostly laid it out as I see it, but there are a few more things that occurred to me that I think it's worth getting into. As little effort as seems to be put into this aspect of these films, I figured it was worth the risk of getting too thorough. I can always hold some stuff back when I pitch this to the license holders and money people, right?

For the character of Sean, I see some refinement necessary. In the original film he chafes under his overbearing father, who is much duplicated in McCulloch. I say we get rid of the father, but McCulloch elicits the same reactions from Sean, so it works out fine. Sean's arc involves him coming to terms with what his father wanted for him when he sees how he's been forged as a man to deal with the adversity and evil of the world. It's kind of a "Red Dawn" thing.

You ease down on the petulance the character has, and have him be what Rennie needs. Rennie finds strength and stands on her own. It ought to be a Ripley/Hicks kind of thing. That would be a smart rip-off. He's a lot more likable as a more silent, martyr time. As it is, he's not very likable. Rennie isn't unlikable, but I know I don't care much about her. Played by a Heather Langenkamp type, that could change, and something needs to. You've got to like those two.

That relationship, with McCulloch and Jason as hindrance and accelerator, obviously gets the lion's share of minutes in the film. You give what you can to the rest, because there's room for others to have their own stories, and we badly need to care that they die. They don't need to change a ton beyond what I outlined yesterday. There's really a lot of decent stuff to work with here, which is why I care at all to even write about it. It could have been good.