The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

The cast does tolerably, and the jump to TV doesn't dial down the naughtiness too much -- it's just that this comedy has lost some joy in translation. Without the cult history of the original, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again is simply a campy musical, albeit one whose messages about gender and sexuality have aged remarkably well. The idea of a bisexual character is no longer shocking, nor is one who enjoys cross-dressing (though since Cox is a trans woman who spends the majority of the film's running time dressed in sparkly and brief lady-dancer costumes, that bit might be a tad confusing to new viewers); the songs have held up, and so has the idea of satirizing an old-time movie.

Cox is no Tim Curry, though she seems to be doing an imitation of him, with a terrible English accent that frequently lapses into New Zealand-ish tones, particularly when she calls for "Bred" and "Jehnet." For that matter, few members of the cast give performances as lovably idiosyncratic as the originals and frequently seem to be trying to give the exact same line readings as their predecessors. Which asks the question: If you're going to do a shot-for-shot remake and add nothing but a new cast imitating the old cast, why bother?