Written by James M. Tate / 12/13/2012 / 1 Comment / 2012 , chris hemsworth , remake , war
RED DAWN REMAKE
year: 2012 cast: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck rating: * |
They receive their cram sessions care-of Chris Hemsworth. Unlike Patrick Swayze’s woodsy jock in the original, our primary hero is a War vet returning home where his sulky little brother doesn’t have a nice word to say. Enter Josh Peck’s passive Matt, who has a girlfriend he loves more than anything while Hemsworth, as the muscular Jed, only knows how to fight and survive…
But now we’re skipping ahead – befitting a movie that cuts quickly to the chase:
During the opening credits we get a splash of news reports predicting very bad things caused by the economy, terrorists and other current events… The writers obviously wanted the war raging fast so target audiences (teens and nostalgic adults) won’t get antsy.
The best scene in the 1984 original, catapulting the reality of invasion to the oblivious students, has a school teacher walking out to face a group of mysterious skydivers landing outside a classroom... Here a bunch of warplanes (one crashing into a house) blow the town to smithereens, which is as suspenseful as watching a friend play a video game.
While the frantic camera continuously shakes and shudders, the Wolverines go in and out of hiding and are never sure what they’re hiding from or fighting against… The North Koreans are the attackers with a few Russians present. And there are no decent villains except one Korean soldier with a permanent glare.
Eventually, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and two other Marines join the cause. Unlike Powers Booth’s maverick pilot in the original, teaching the kids a thing or two about real warfare, there’s no reason for the adults to be around – especially since Jed’s a veteran already – other than to marvel at the capability of the youngsters and providing more ammo.
There are a few “missions,” the most important taking place in a multilevel building i.e. the enemy’s makeshift Base of Operations, with lots of running around providing little suspense. Although there’s an unpredictable “twist” that does successfully shake things up, after this happens you’ll wonder: Why continue the story at all?
The worst aspect of this pointless sequel aren’t lines like “Marines don’t die – they go to hell and regroup” but the undeveloped characters that seem to have just met even though they’ve grown up in the same town all their lives. With an exception of the two leads, none of the kids really stand out: what's needed is a C. Thomas Howell type slowly becoming a Gung Ho psychopath, or women with more purpose than being eye-candy love interests.
Sure, the patriotic original can be corny and downright preposterous, but the kids have a deep connection with each other, before and after the takeover, making even the silly stuff count.
Labels:
2012,
chris hemsworth,
remake,
war
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
All Time Popular
-
Robyn Hilton enters into an eclectic exploitation comedy career in Wonder Women circa 1973 As mentioned a few posts ago, ROBYN HILTON, b...
-
year: 1978 cast: Allen Garfield, Leif Garrett, Kathleen Lloyd, Tony Alva, Pam Kenneally rating: ***1/2 Although promoted as a Leif Garr...
-
Kari Michaelsen in Saturday the 14th year: 1982 In LOVE AT FIRST BITE, a popular comedy that took the vampire genre by satire, Richard ...
-
Cornelia Sharpe in BUSTING Year: 1974 Rating: **** Starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as determined vice cops BUSTING hookers, makin...
-
Mary-Louise Weller in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE ANIMAL HOUSE, directed by John Landis and produced by Ivan Reitman, stars John Be...
-
Kerri Green and John Candy in SUMMER RENTAL Year: 1985 John Candy, in his first leading role, plays a burnt-out air traffic controller ...
-
Robyn Hilton on STARSKY AND HUTCH Model/Actress ROBYN HILTON played Mel Brook's secretary in BLAZING SADDLES and turns up in an epis...
-
Robyn Hilton in Video Vixens the same year as Blazing Saddles: 1974 The Anthology of Comedic Parodies, already done in several Woody All...
-
CADDDYSHACK is best known for the iconic leading actors: Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray, but originally the ...
-
Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967 THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BIL...
Featured Post
NAKEDLY INGITING THE ANIMATED CULT CLASSIC 'HEAVY METAL'
Title: HEAVY METAL Year: 1981 Rating: **** The best two stories from HEAVY METAL... producer Ivan Reitman's animated/cartoon anthology w...
The original was a classic. When the kids are in the classroom and the sea of paratroopers are drifting down from the sky - almost an iconic image in my mind for the 1980's.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine was reminding me the other day that he had watched Red Dawn repeatedly back then - because whenever he would come over to my house I was watching it on cable tv.
Thank you for taking a bullet for the team by seeing this and writing the review sir. As always I enjoy them immensely.