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So as you know, I stopped writing lengthy reviews on this site this year, keeping the blog as more of a film diary of sorts.  Lo and behold,...

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Movie Review - Red Dawn

Red Dawn (2012)
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Josh Hutcherson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Directed by Dan Bradley

As a conservative, I probably should be falling head over heels for the remake of Red Dawn, a jingoistic Republican fantasy with a rallying cry for American freedom.  Hell, there's even a line in the film about a lesser military spending leading to a weakened national defense thereby allowing the North Koreans to invade the northwestern corner of the nation (or maybe all of the US...that was never really made clear), run rampant over the local governments, and begin the process of forcing us Americans to our knees.  But the fact remains that Red Dawn is an awful movie.  Horrible dialog.  Disappointing acting.  Poorly edited.  You name it and it was likely pretty pitiful.

The biggest problem isn't with the overarching story of the North Korean takeover of the US, but with the insignificant and poorly explicated character relationships.  Right off the bat, we're supposed to feel for brothers Jed and Mack Eckert (Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck) because Jed's been off in Iraq and has left Mack at home.  I guess the separation caused some issues to develop, but their dad (Brett Cullen) tries to bring the two boys together.  And, of course, the story forces them to bond and become best buds.  There are two incredibly tired and hastily perfunctory love stories thrown into the mix as well, neither of which are developed enough to provide even a modicum of reason for them existing.  [I won't even get started on actresses Adrianne Palicki and Isabel Lucas and their "acting" here...although I will ask the public if Ms. Lucas was trying to hide her Australian accent or if her character was supposed to be from The Land Down Under because that Aussie lilt more often than not made its presence known.]

The whole thing really is a mess with there being nary a technical or story-based aspect that truly shines.  The one bright spot of the film is that Hemsworth actually proves to be moderately adept at carrying a film.  I was somewhat impressed with his role in Thor and this proves that there may be some type of slight star quality present to carry a crappy action movie here or there in his future.  He's pretty much wasted here, however.

It's fairly obvious to see why this one was held in limbo for over two years and just finally found a release.  I think that the concept would actually permit a good movie to be made (maybe the 1984 original is solid -- I've never seen it), but the sun should've set on this version of Red Dawn before it even got off the drawing board.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

2 comments:

  1. I think you pretty much summed up all of my feelings with this one. The lack of character development was a huge part of what made it so painful for me. I spent the first half of the movie trying to figure out all of their names/traits and the second half not caring that I didn't know. Also, we're we supposed to like them? Because their choices/conversations/character traits (I use the phrase "character traits" loosely) made that very difficult sometimes. And not in a good thoughtful way- just plain dislike/frustration.

    Oh and I also found myself distracted by Connor Cruise's acting role. I dont really know why, but it just really stood out to me. It also didnt help me with trying to keep names straight.

    In short- great review for a terrible film.

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  2. Like you said, Cassie, there was no character development worth noting. The romances were pathetically played out that there was no reason for them to be in there. The friendships (like the one between Connor Cruise and Josh Hutcherson) were pointless. The training scenes were silly and happened much too quickly and unbelievably in the fact that these "kids" could get so adequately trained in such a short amount of time. Overall, nothing makes this film worth watching...

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