Red Dawn

After years on the shelf due to MGM’s bankruptcy, Red Dawn has finally seen the light of day with a cast much more famous than when they filmed it. A remake of the 1984 film of the same name, the remake follows a group of Washington teenagers and 20 somethings as North Korea invades their community. With Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson seeing blockbuster success in the past few years, there should have been a newfound sense of optimism for the film. However its buzz was extremely limited and the overwhelming amount of male centered advertising spoke to the desperation in trying to prevent a flop. The jury is still out on that, but the film delivers as advertised.

With campy one-liners and a premise that takes a while to believe, it’s definitely not a classic war epic. But once things get going there is a down to Earth feel that can put the audience in the shoes of such a frightening concept, your home being invaded. When the characters begin fighting back with their guerilla tactics, it’s hard to imagine they’d make any progress against the no-nonsense soldiers they are supposedly out-witting. How dare I question the elite fighting force who calls themselves “Wolverines.” After all, they shot tin cans in the woods for practice.

Running close to two hours, Red Dawn is paced well keeping the audience’s attention from the foreboding opening credits through the heart-pumping final scene. The scale seems a bit small for such a seemingly massive event. After the initial airborne invasion, everything shrinks a bit too much. In terms of acting, Hemsworth falls a bit flat as Hutcherson gives a more emotional performance. Josh Peck, who plays the stubborn younger brother to Hemsworth’s soldier character, disappoints with a whiny performance that gets old fast. It’s likely how the character is written, but still annoying. Red Dawn definitely could be better with some significant fine tuning, but after expectations were set so low, its entertainment value is definitely higher than you’d think.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.