Red Dawn
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Connor Cruise
Directed by Dan Bradley
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 93 mins
Genre: Drama/Action
Opens November 21st
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
With all the Hollywood remakes, reboots and revamps, can it take a wildly revered movie and refresh it to fit today’s mindset, culture and attitude? Its usually a coin toss if it will be any good.
Set in Spokane,Washington, a small town is invaded by North Korean soldiers in an effort to reform the U.S. from its evil crony-capitalism, consumer-driven, immoral ways. A Marine who is home on leave, Jed Eckert (Chris Hemsworth) quickly steps into a leadership role getting his younger brother Matt (Josh Peck) and a few other of Matt’s friends out of town and up to the family cabin away from the chaos. Jed and Matt’s father (Brett Cullen) was caught behind as he is one of the town’s sheriffs, along with Matt’s girlfriend Erica (Isabel Lucas). Matt is uber distraught, but keeps it together with the intent of going back for his father and Ericka.
Once at the cabin, they are able to regroup, process and plan for what is coming next. A few of the teens end up going back, feeling that if they cooperate with the North Koreans that they will help themselves and their families. To prove their loyalty, they lead the soldiers back to the cabin to arrest the rest of the group, but they were out trying to gather info and food. When the boys don’t come forward, the soldiers burn the house and kill Jed and Matt’s father. This ignites the flame of revenge and to take back their town from the soldiers. Jed trains the rest of the group to fight guerilla style, learning how to take weapons and materials from the soldiers. As one teen puts it, he’s now living Call of Duty.
The “Wolverines”, as the renengade teens call themselves, wage war against the Communist occupiers. Will they be able to defeat the Koreans and return to their lives without too much collateral damage? Or will too many of their friends and family perish under the invading regime?
The original release of Red Dawn in 1984 played a large role in the cultural mindset of the era. Now that some of the same issues have recycled into the public psyche, will this film have as much box office pull the second time around? The modern remake of Red Dawn accomplishes a few key things: It is entertaining. It is loaded with action-packed, edge-of-your seat, adrenaline pumping drama and makes you feel a little proud for our country. Sure it has a few differences as the North Koreans invade the West Coast and the Russians invade the East Coast; The original it was a Russia/Cuba combo. Although this is a remake, it does justice to the original film with the cheesy dialogue and fills in some of the plot holes. Will this film strike a chord with the younger viewers and appease the older generation who grew up with this film? Be the judge and go see it when it opens in theaters starting Wednesday November 21, 2012.
