It sucks when your film goes through development hell, but nothing could be more frustrating when your film is actually done, didn’t have any developmental issues and still doesn’t get released for two years. So is the case for Dan Bradley, a man who is making his directorial debut with Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 classic starring Patrick Swayze.
In the film, Chris Hemsworth (Thor) stars as Jed Eckert, an Iraq war veteran visiting home while he awaits his next mission. After a night of seeing old friends and playing catch-up with his brother Matt (Josh Peck), who is pissed that Jed abandoned him after the death of his mother, he wakes up to bombs exploding and North Koreans parachuting out of the sky. Putting their differences aside, Matt, Jed and a few of Matt’s Wolverine classmates, minus his girlfriend, escape capture and make their way to their dad’s cabin outside of town. Rather than sitting and simply trying to survive, the group band together, under the guidance of Jed’s military experience, and become rebels, battling the North Koreans using guerilla warfare.
For a film that survived MGM’s bankruptcy and a complete makeover of its villains, the film came out great. For those that don’t know, MGM decided that they would change the communist villains from the Chinese to North Koreans, most likely so that they could exploit the massive market when the film is released this November. In post production they digitally changed all the flags, banners, uniform symbols of the Chinese military to that of North Korea and, for the most part, it was flawless. There were a couple of terrible scenes where you could tell it was redubbed or something was cropped out but there’s only so much they could do. Anyway, despite all that, the film came out great and everyone at the test screening really enjoyed it.
Like the original film, the movie is still pretty campy but it has a lot going for it that the original didn’t. Firstly, this one has more intense and suspenseful action that’ll make you forget its PG-13 rating. Secondly, amongst all the action and drama, the movie has quite a bit of humor with laughs regularly echoing throughout the theater. Lastly, though it has its differences, the film is pretty faithful to the original which should make fans pretty happy.
When it comes to the acting, Chris Hemsworth does a terrific job filling in Swayze’s shoes. He makes Jed his own and, though I haven’t seen Cabin in the Woods, I believe this is his best performance to date. Surprisingly enough, this was supposed to be his breakout role before it was shelved and Thor was released. As for the rest of the cast, which includes Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas, Adrienne Palicki and Edwin Hodge, they were all inconstant in their delivery but campy and likable enough for you to let it go. I just couldn’t tell if Peck was smoking three pac
ks a day or still going through puberty, his voice was so scratchy. Will Yun Lee and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who played the evil Captain Lo (and is actually of Korean decent) and Colonel Andy Tanner, gave respectable performances and were featured just enough to make an impression but not enough to take away from the story of the Wolverines themselves.
The two issues I had with the film have to do with the sudden appearance and disappearance of a Russian Spetsnaz whose focus was counterinsurgency and getting rid of the Wolverine pests. The guy shows up, then disappears for a bit, and then reappears and finds a way to track the group down, but when North Koreans ambush them he is nowhere to be found. I don’t know how they haven’t identified this problem but I hope they fix it by November. The other issue, which I managed to put behind me, was that even with help and a special weapon, North Korea couldn’t take over a major portion of the US (but that’s what happens when you switch the origin nation of your villains.
Most people with knowledge of the remake’s history will go in with low expectations and for fans of the original you’re probably saying there was no need to do this. All I can say is that everyone is in for a really fun and exciting action flick that, thanks to writers Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore, stays true to the original’s roots while bringing it up to date with our times, something you’ll realize during the opening credits. Remakes are never really necessary but every once in a while some are just as good or are better than the original. While I can’t say all aspects of Dan Bradley’s Red Dawn remake surpass the original, it surprisingly holds its own, can be considered just as good as the first and is one flick worth seeing. WOLVERINES!
Rating: A surprisingly fun action flick that does the original justice but ups the action ante (7/10)
This review is from a test screening, so keep in mind that things can and probably will change.
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