Rated
PG-13 (Sequences of Intense War Violence and Action, and for Language)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 33 Minutes
Cast-
Chris
Hemsworth-Jed Eckert
Josh
Peck-Matt Eckert
Adrianne
Palicki-Toni Mason
Josh
Hutcherson-Robert Morris
Connor
Cruise-Daryl Jenkins
Isabel
Lucas-Erica Mason
Edwin
Hodge-Danny Bates
Alyssa
Diaz-Julie
Jeffrey
Dean Morgan-Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Tanner
Brett
Cullen-Tom Eckert
Will
Yun Lee-Captain Lo
Matt
Gerald-Hodges
Kenneth
Choi-Smith
Directed
by Dan Bradley
 |
| The fate of the United States rests in these kids' hands. Yea, I wouldn't even trust them with my mail. |
On
October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a nationwide televised
address to the American public and announced that ‘it shall be the policy of
this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation
in the Western Hemisphere as an attack
by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response
upon the Soviet Union.’ The next day, U.S. naval ships set up a blockade (dubbed
a quarantine by Chief of Naval
Operations Admiral George Whelan Anderson Jr. since a blockade is considered to
be an act of war according to international law) some 800 miles from the coast
of Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both the United States and the
Soviet Union showed no signs of budging until October 28, when Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev publicly agreed to dismantle all offensive weapons from Cuba while
Kennedy promised that he would never again invade the country. The United
States also secretly agreed to dismantle all intermediate range ballistic
missiles deployed in Italy and Turkey. The so-called Cold War between the
United States and the Soviet Union defined the 20th century, with the two
superpowers a hairs-breadth away from starting a nuclear conflict that could
devastate the world. Disaster was thankfully averted in the last minute but in
the world of Hollywood film, the Soviet Union launched a massive invasion upon
the United States until they were repelled by a group of teenage guerilla
fighters. Such a premise was explored in director John Milius’ “Red Dawn”
starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey. Released on August
10, 1984, the film went on to become a box office success with a domestic gross
of $38 million ($84 million adjusted for inflation) but received mixed reviews
from critics with a current score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.
During the 2008
Cannes Film Festival, MGM announced that a remake of “Red Dawn” was in the
early stages of pre-production. With the collapse of communism in 1991, the
only remaining nation that could challenge the United States on the global arena
was China. The idea of having these two nations engage in an all-out war has
been explored in other media such as video games, particularly the “Fallout”
series but while such an event is plausible, it would be impractical for China
to invade the United States. The two countries are too interdependent on each
other to risk ruining their diplomatic relationship by resorting to war. The
“Red Dawn” remake finished filming in 2009 under the helm of Dan Bradley but the
film’s release was delayed indefinitely due to MGM’s financial troubles. Not
helping matters was the controversial depiction of a United States being
invaded by China. To maintain access to China’s lucrative box office, the
villains were altered from Chinese to North Korean in post-production in March
2011. After being shelved for nearly two years, “Red Dawn” will finally be
released on November 2, 2012 by FilmDistrict and Open Road Films. I managed to
obtain tickets to an advanced screening six months ahead of its official
release. While the film features plenty of loud explosions and shootouts, “Red
Dawn” squanders much of its potential with its ridiculously cheesy gung-ho
attitude, clichéd characters, and sanitized violence in order to appeal to a
mass audience.
With the United States caught in the grip of an economical
crisis and mired in a number of conflicts around the world, the small communist
nation of North Korea seizes the opportunity to build up its military forces.
Meanwhile, the residents from the small town of Spokane, Washington are enjoying
the local high school football game but the team’s star quarterback Matt Eckert
(Josh Peck) fails to turn the tide. His father Tom (Brett Cullen), the town
sheriff, brushes off the loss and praises his son for trying his best to win. Matt’s
older brother Jed (Chris Hemsworth) comes home after his tour of duty in Iraq
but the two have a tense relationship since their mother passed away. A
blackout suddenly occurs and Tom is forced to spend the night keeping the
peace, leaving his sons at home. Matt and Jed wake up the next morning to the
sound of distant explosions and discover paratroopers landing throughout their hometown.
Jed takes charge, taking as many of Matt’s friends with him and slipping away
to the family cabin but his father ends up being captured by the invaders, who
are revealed to be North Koreans led by Captain Lo (Will Yun Lee). The group
gathers what supplies and weapons they can but Lo manages to find the cabin and
holds Jed and Matt’s father at gunpoint to force them to surrender. Tom yells
for his sons to fight back and is promptly shot in the head. Jed forms a ragtag
group of teenage freedom fighters that includes his brother, Toni Mason (Adrianne
Palicki), Robert Morris (Josh Hutcherson), and Daryl Jenkins (Conner Cruise).
Dubbed the Wolverines (after their
high school football team), they are trained in guerilla warfare tactics and
begin harassing the North Korean forces occupying their hometown. However, Matt
disobeys Jed by going off to save his girlfriend Erica Mason (Isabel Lucas),
putting the rest of the group at risk.
Before I begin, I just want to mention
that I have not seen the original
“Red Dawn” so I cannot comment on the similarities and differences the two may
have. The idea of North Korea invading the United States is nothing new and was
explored in the video game “Homefront” developed by Kaos Studios and published
by THQ for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Ironically, John Milius served as
writer for the story. Unfortunately, the game ended up devolving into a “Call
of Duty” clone and faced middling reviews for squandering much of its potential
with a four hour single-player campaign. “Red Dawn” faces a similar flaw and
makes for a hollow viewing experience. Some may dub the film as a form of
propaganda but it’s too dumb to function as a brainwashing tool. Given the fact
that North Korea cannot even successfully launch a missile or feed its people,
I find it hard to believe that such a small nation would have the manpower or
technology necessary to engage in a full-scale invasion. It is later revealed
that they had help from another country but it’s little more than an
afterthought in the film. As a Chinese American, I admit that seeing China
portrayed in an antagonistic light would’ve been somewhat uncomfortable but it does sound more plausible given the fact
that they are a nuclear power like the United States. China has had a habit of casting
foreigners in a bad light as well so this situation is nothing new for me. I
also find it highly implausible that a ragtag group of teenagers suddenly became
proficient in weapon use and guerilla tactics after a training montage that
lasts roughly five minutes. The film is simplistic to a fault and makes no
effort to really develop its villains beyond the fact that they are invading
our country. This issue extends to the supporting cast as well as none of the
characters are given any sense of depth with the exception of Hemsworth and
Peck, making it hard to care about what they are going through. The story loses
the opportunity to explore the moral grey area that separates terrorist from
freedom fighter, with the Wolverines being branded by the former. The conflict
between the two brothers is as clichéd as they come with one unable to put
aside his emotions for the good of the team. One thing that “Red Dawn” does
well is with the war scenes but Bradley’s camerawork is sometimes too
schizophrenic and the PG-13 violence robs much of the impact due to the need to
appeal to a wide audience. The film tries hard to be like “Black Hawk Down” but
never rises above the level of “Battle: Los Angeles.” The gung-ho attitude
proves to be cheesy as well, with characters shouting ‘WOLVERINES!’ like
they’re at a school rally. “Red Dawn” is an old-school patriotic film and
there’s nothing wrong with that but the whole experience feels detached, making
it a lost opportunity to do something genuinely unique.
Chris Hemsworth has
been on a roll this year with “The Avengers,” “Snow White and the Huntsman,”
“The Cabin in the Woods,” and now “Red Dawn.” Granted, the last two were
completed back in 2009 but to have them all be released now is a brilliant use
of timing. Hemsworth delivers a generally good performance, his chiseled good
looks and sincere conviction makes him one of the few bright spots in the film.
Josh Peck is a mixed bag and lacks the acting chops to handle the more dramatic
scenes. The rest of the supporting cast includes the likes of Adrianne Palicki,
Josh Hutcherson, Connor Cruise, and Isabel Lucas but their characters are too
underdeveloped to leave much of impression despite sharing a good rapport with
each other. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also pops up a marine who helps out during the
climactic assault but it feels like he’s just picking up another paycheck given
the screen-time he has.
“Red Dawn” will be released into theaters on November
2, 2012 but yours truly managed to snag free tickets to a super advanced
screening. The audience enjoyed the film and even applauded but honestly,
standards have never been exactly high. While not a deal-breaker, an elderly
woman also had to provide a running commentary on everything that was happening! I imagine the critics won’t be too
impressed with the remake either seeing as how the original received a mixed
reception. “Red Dawn” offers up plenty of explosive action but the film
squanders its opportunity to create something truly unique about the post-9/11
world for jingoist cheese, which is real damn shame.
Final
Rating: 2 out of 5
“For
them, this is just some place…but for us, this is our home!”
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