Okay,
I’ll admit it right off: Dan Bradley’s Red
Dawn, released November 21st, 2012, isn’t the “best movie ever made!”
However, as his first film as lead director (in the past Bradley had been stunt
coordinator and second unit director for several box office hits) it had the
potential to be disastrous but ended up being pleasantly refreshing. I know
what you’re thinking: “Oh God, not another remake,” and I’m with you on that.
In the past few years it seems Hollywood has lost the creativity and ambition
to come up with new and exciting films. Instead they choose to reach into that
box in the garage no one’s touched in a while and bring back several
hand-me-down screenplays to put a big shiny bow on and force the new generation
to wear. Hate to break it to all those producers and directors out there, but
adding updated special effects and casting the latest Hollywood heart throb in
an effort to make an old movie look totally awesome and new, doesn’t work. Just
face it: we can see right through your tricks.
Now
that I’ve finished shaming the film industry, I’ll get down to it. While far
from cinematic masterpiece, Bradley’s Red
Dawn remake didn’t make me want to hurl my popcorn on the floor and run
from the theater demanding my 10 dollars back. By updating the screenplay,
casting competent actors, creating suspenseful and intriguing scenes, and bringing
a bit of humor to an otherwise dreary war film, I believe that Bradley achieved
something astonishing: making a remake that surpassed the original on nearly all
fronts. Now, I know there will always be those cult followers that watch the
1984 Red Dawn five times a day and
think it was fantastic—but for those of us who don’t fit into that category ,let’s
acknowledge that it really was not that good. The 1984 version of Red Dawn was somewhat hard to follow,
had little memorable dialogue, and when the kids weren’t out there shooting up
tanks or blowing up buildings, it was honestly rather boring. Upon re-watching
it,
since it had been a few years, I was abhorred to discover that despite my
love for Dirty Dancing, even Patrick
Swayze (Jedd) and Jennifer Grey (Toni) couldn’t cut it for me. I understand it
was supposed to show the “gruesome reality of war” and all that, but when an
audience can’t keep the characters names straight and isn’t shocked or upset by
the death of a leading protagonist, all hope for deeper meaning is lost.
Red Dawn (2012) at the most basic level
of plot, is about a group of Midwestern teenagers banning together to defend
their home town from invading forces during the beginning of what is labeled as
World War III. In contrast to its precursor, which simply, rolled ominous
background information in block text over a black background screen, Bradley’s Red Dawn introduces the setting of the
outbreak of WWIII through creative use of a montage of news clips from around
the world which even include pieces of speeches by well known officials like
current president Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Immediately
the audience is not just given a sense of perspective but also placed within realistic
scenery. After this, we roll to a scenes of a high school football game,
friends hanging out at a local dinner and bar, and are introduced to most of
what will turn out to be the main characters.
Several changes between
character personality and relationships were made in order to help with story
development as well as make the characters more likeable in general. Matt (Josh
Peck) and Jedd Eckert (Chris Hemsworth) are the two sons of the local Police
Chief, Tom (Brett Cullen). Matt is a senior High school quarterback dating the
cute little blond Erica Martin (Isabel Lucas) while Jedd is a U.S. marine on
leave from six years of active duty. This differs drastically from the 1984
version in several ways:
1)
Jedd is not in
High school and has military experience—making it a hell of a lot more
reasonable that all of the kids can be trained in military grade weapons and
guerilla tactics.
2)
The classic
“brotherly love” from the 1984 version is on short supply in the 2012 one—Matt
resents Jedd for leaving them to join the marine’s right after their mother
died. (On a side note, “Mom” dies pre-war in this one, not as the troops
invade)
3)
In the 1984
version, you get the vibe that Erica and Matt do not even like each other;
however, in the 2012 one they’re dating. By having them in a loving
relationship the audience is able to relate to the characters, draw from their
emotions, and feel for them when they are separated.
The morning after the
football game and partying, Jedd and Matt are woken up by the sound of bombs
dropping just in time to run outside and see North Korean troops (replacing
that of the Soviet and Cuban threat in the 1984 version) parachuting from the sky
and rounding up the townspeople. Immediately, they hop into their blue pick-up
truck (a throwback to the 1984 version) and go in search of their father who
tells them to round up as many of the people as they can and get the hell out
of dodge—which happens to consist of going to their cabin in the woods.
Throughout the action packed drive through town which depicts bombs dropping,
out racing Korean patrol cars, and a heart wrenching goodbye as Matt has to
leave Erica behind, they pick up Robert (Josh Hutchenson), Daryl—the mayors son
(Connor Cruise), and brother and sister Julie and Greg (Alyssa Diaz and Julian
Alcaraz). Later on, when they’re at the cabin, two more join their team, Danny
(Edwin Hodge), and Toni(Adrianne Palicki)—who is friends with Erica and is
coincidentally harboring a not-so-secret crush on Jedd.
Contrary to the
self-inspired fit of revenge the group goes on in the 1984 film, Bradley opts
out for a traumatic depiction of murder as Tom Eckert tells his boys to do what
he would do—defend the town or die trying—and is immediately shot in the head
by the big, bad General Cho. After this, Jedd takes control of his reluctant
troop of teens and inspires them to fight back; he says that for the Koreans
this is just a place, but for them it is home. In contrast to the 1984 version,
which used bland text stating the month over a still shot of the weather, Bradley
uses yet another montage to depict a time lapse. This time, it is of the kids
training with weapons, building camps, meeting allies in town, and generally
preparing for their first strike at the Koreans. Because of transitions like
these, Bradley’s Red Dawn flows from
one scene to the next flawlessly and makes a 114 minute film seem to go by too
fast as opposed to dreadfully slow.
After several raids, a
failed attempt to take out Cho, successfully rescuing Erika, but at the cost of
a few lives (Greg, Danny, and Julie die shortly afterwards), Jedd and the
team—having taken on the name of their High school mascot, the wolverines—scramble
to try to come up with a plan B while dealing with the loss of their comrades.
However, just as in the 1984 version, the real battle gets started when the
Wolverines meet up with a U.S. special ops team—this time there are three
rather than one and they have the key to ending the war: stealing a black case
used to create a closed network for the Korean army.
They plan a siege on
the head quarters the Korean Army established in the old police station and
just barely escape with their prize. Compared to the melodramatic, suicidal two-man
last stand of Jedd and Matt that is depicted in the 1984 version, this
climactic scene is not only much more interesting and tactically reasonable,
but also significantly more suspenseful and exciting. There is a moment in
which the audience literally holds their breath expecting the entire plan to
fall through. Just then Matt makes a triumphant leap from a second story
window, tumbles, and grabs the case. Right after the exhale, when everything
seems safe and okay, the audience is shocked yet again as Jedd is shot by a sniper
through a window and falls to the floor dead. While some critics probably
disagree, to me this is a much more valiant and disturbing death than that of
Matt and Jedd bleeding out on a park bench in each other’s arms.
In addition to the
better character development, more suspenseful scene arrangement, interesting
stunts, and inclusion of emotional attachment, the main change made from the
1984 to the 2012 version, is the addition of some pretty witty and memorable
one liners, as well as scenes of humor and reflection. Scene’s such as Robert
and Daryl’s raid on a Subway in which they declare handing the kid behind the
counter a plastic bag, “Sandwhich artist, fill this with food!” or Jedd’s
comment to “rub some dirt on it” and get back in the fight to Matt as he
struggles with being responsible for Greg’s death. In the midst of a war flick
the fact that Bradley takes the time to show the Wolverine’s sitting around
cracking jokes like “we’re living Call of
Duty, and it sucks,” makes the film so much more enjoyable. This also
creates another dimension to the characters and humanizes them—you not only
begin to like the characters but also care about what happens to them. You feel
the pain as Julie stitches up a bullet wound for her comrade; when Jedd shouts
“You fucked with the wrong family,” as he shoots Cho you feel the justice and
satisfaction; and like Toni, you’re heart broken when Jedd dies.
The film ends with the
discovery that the Koreans are tracking them through the use of a microchip
locator they implanted in Daryl by stabbing him. Rather than shooting him, as
in the 1984 version, Daryl valiantly chooses to remain behind so that the
remainder of his friends can escape with the box to “Free America” and end the
war. This is possibly the only redeeming moment for his character, which spent
much of the movie running away and being indecisive. After this, the screen
cuts forward what the audience suspects to be a few months and Matt is depicted
giving a speech—eerily familiar to the one his brother gave at the beginning of
the film—to new recruits that have chosen to fight with the rebel forces.
Ending with a moment of hope, we are then transported to the middle of a raid
on a concentration camp (used to detain the town’s most troublesome occupants)
where the kids driving souped-up cars, with mounted guns atop, free the
prisoners. This final depiction of rebellion and teen angst faired far better
than that of the emotional voice over given by Toni in the 1984 version. Rather
than leaving the theater somewhat depressed, confused, and bored, we are
amped-up, inspired, and hopeful, with Jedd’s memorable quote “Marine’s don’t
die. They just go to hell and regroup.” ringing in our ears.
Ultimately, Bradley’s Red Dawn won me over. This wasn’t my
first war [film], and there are many out there that surpass it by far (Brave Heart, Behind Enemy Lines, Rules of
Engagement, and Black Hawk Down
to name a few) but it did prove to be an interesting and entertaining revitalization
of its 1984 predecessor. Despite the fact that I don’t believe Chris Helmsworth
is related to Josh Peck for one second, the movie itself had the perfect
combination of action, romance, tragedy, and patriotism. I have high hopes for
Bradley’s next film; here’s to him keeping up the good work.
