Review of Red Dawn (2012) by Matt L — 02 Jun 2013

Yet again, another pointless remake his made its way on to the big screen - reiterating the fact that Hollywood is simply running out of ideas. If there is a remake out there that is better than the original? If so, please enlighten us as to what it is because this is getting pretty tedious to have to sit through these shameful knockoffs. However, it's pretty safe to say that this Red Dawn remake is simply a play to earn some money over the Thanksgiving holiday.

*Note* Like the Total Recall review, this film's review will be based solely on the new rendition and will not be compared to the original.

Chris Hemsworth stars as Jed Eckert, a former marine that leads a rebellion against a North Korean invasion. Along with his brother Matt (Josh Peck), Chris and the rebellion form a group called the Wolverines and attempt to cause an uprising by attacking the North Koreans as they occupy Spokane, Washington. Adrianne Palicki and Josh Hutcherson also star in supporting roles.

If that summary sounds pretty general and boring, it's meant to - because this is a pretty far-fetched and boring film that will leave you asking obvious questions and shaking your head. How does a North Korean army invade the United States? Well, apparently they just airdrop a bunch of soldiers on the state of Washington and suddenly they're in charge of the country. Where's the United States army in all of this? Your guess is as good as mine. Apparently they had something more important to do as the west coast is easily invaded by a handful of North Koreans.

This film revolves around a small group on young people that we barely even get to know. How is an audience supposed to care if these people get killed if we have no emotional strings attached to them? The simple answer is the audience won't care when these people get hurt. Half the time, the audience won't even be able to tell who gets shot or goes missing or defects. It's a cluster from the start and anything that can go bad with this film does go bad.

Chris Hemsworth does his best to make this film entertaining, and from the aspect of an entertainment value, this film will hold your attention - barely. However, that doesn't change the fact that it's a bunch of poorly trained kids (that really aren't that great of actors to begin with) killing a trained North Korean army - pretty easily, too. It also won't change the fact that any 'friendship" or 'romantic' relationships in this film are overly rushed and almost unbearably BORING. There's that word again: boring. If there is one word to describe this film it is BORING - or unnecessary.

When you walk up to the ticket window this holiday weekend, steer clear of this film. There are too many other good films out there right now to waste your time watching a remake of a film that wasn't that great to begin with. In a shameless plug here - go see Argo, Lincoln, or Skyfall. You won't go wrong and you'll at least feel like you got what you paid for. Heck, if you've seen them already, go see one of them again.