“We give back more than we take.”
Directed by: Ericson Core
Written by: Kurt Wimmer (screenplay), Rick King, W. Peter Iliff, Kurt Wimmer (story)
Starring: Luke Bracey, Edgar Ramirez, Ray Winstone, Delroy Lindo, Teresa Palmer
The H-Bomb: Extreme sports star Johnny “Utah” (Luke Bracey) gives up his career after a close friend of his is killed attempting a motorbike stunt. Years later, he finishes law school and joins the FBI. His first assignment, his field test, if you will, is to track down a group of thieves who have pulled off daring heists all over the world. It just so happens, these criminals execute their “impossible” robberies by performing such stunts as parachuting, biking through a jungle, etc., to escape the scenes of their crimes.
Utah believes the robbers are extreme sports experts, and that they aren’t after wealth, so much, as they are attempting to achieve something deeper by following the model of a legendary “activist” athlete, who set up eight “impossible” feats one must perform in order to reach Nirvana (just go with it). Tracking them down to their next spot, Utah meets and gradually earns the trust of Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez), who does in fact lead a group of extreme sports enthusiasts, and who is in fact behind the high stakes heists Utah is investigating.
As Utah is drawn deeper into Bodhi’s world, he finds his own passion for death defying stunts being rekindled, and his loyalties being torn, as he becomes tight with the charismatic, zen-like Bodhi, while trying not to lose sight of the fact that it is his job to bring him, and his crew, down.
This is a case in which going into a film with low expectations actually worked in the movie’s favor. While I do like the original 1991 Point Break, it was never a particular favorite of mine, and given how shitty remakes typically are, I went into this reboot expecting it to suck hard. It didn’t. Now, it’s hardly a masterpiece, or some sleeper that’s going to knock your socks off, but, as a diverting time waster, it’s fairly decent.
The main attraction is the stunt work, which is surprisingly breathtaking. Ericson Core’s direction and photography put us right smack in the middle of the action. Whether it’s snowboarding down a jaggedly rocky slope, or surfing a gigantic wave off the coast of France, or BASE jumping off a cliff, I felt as though I was right there with these lunatics as they were doing all this crazy shit. There were several points where I caught myself gripping the armrests on both sides of me, the stunts were executed that well. I’m not usually one to push for 3-D, but in the case of Point Break, it’s totally worth the extra two dollars.
I’d go as far as to say that the cinematography is almost as immersive as Gravity, and that the action is almost as thrilling (though not nearly as insane) as Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s a good thing that the action is as strong as it is, since this Point Break remake does, sadly, fall short in just about every other department. The story, which deviates considerably from the original, is not particularly engaging, with the motivation behind Bodhi and his posse being as uninteresting as it is unconvincing. I never bought into their desire to give back more than they take, or their passion to achieve some greater meaning of something or other.
Most of the characters retain their names from the 1991 film, yet all the color and personality they had in that movie has been drained away. Utah, played by the lost Hemsworth brother, Bracey, makes for a spectacularly dull, lifeless protagonist. The writing and performance both share the blame for this, but it’s safe to say that Bracey will not make us forget about Keanu Reeves any time soon… and since it’s fucking Keanu Reeves we’re talking about, here, that’s a little sad. Utah’s romantic subplot with Teresa Palmer, as the female on Bodhi’s team, is very half-assed, as they have zero chemistry together. There’s really no connection between them, other than he’s hot, she’s hot, therefore, they should fuck.
Normally, Ray Winstone can be a stand out in any movie, yet here, playing the Gary Busey role, he brings none of that wild man energy that Busey did. Winstone just looks bored. Ramirez does fine as Bodhi, even though he doesn’t have the magnetism or the charisma of Patrick Swayze. Still, he makes Bodhi his own and delivers a solid performance. Bodhi’s gang, who were highly memorable in the first movie, are little more than a pack of interchangeable goons with beards and tattoos. When a high risk stunt goes wrong, and one of them dies, the film tries to make me feel for that person during his melodramatic Viking funeral, but in actuality, I have no flippin’ idea which one of them had died. All of Bodhi’s guys look and sound the fucking same.
There are some nice nods to the first film, here and there, such as the boys pulling a heist while wearing President masks, as well as James Le Gros, who played Roach in the original, putting in a cameo as a stuffy FBI agent. Another moment lifted from the original, in which Utah fires his gun into the air while angrily shouting “Aaargh!!!” just comes off as awkward and laughable. That, again, is due mainly to Bracey’s lackluster performance.
As I stated, this revamped version of Point Break is far from being a great film, though it’s not a bad one, either. In spite of falling short as far as characters and story are concerned, the action sequences are a jaw dropping sight to behold, and make this otherwise mundane, pedestrian thriller worth checking out on the big screen. When it comes to movies that are merely decent, I usually say wait for DVD. However, since much of the action in Point Break will lose its impact on the small screen, I say go see it in theaters, and don’t bother with it when it hits DVD.
