While Point BreakĀ (2015) is undoubtedly a dire remake, pale in comparison to the Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze original, we can’t help but feel that some of the review scores it’s received online are a little on the unfair side. The comments associated with the reviews are pretty much dead on the money, because the new movie completely fails to tap into the spirit of what made the original such a memorable movie, but a review score of just 9% from a certain spoiled fruit review aggregator is harsh in the extreme.
In our own “marks out of five” review score concept, that would amount to just 0.45/5, which is at least as ridiculous as the dialogue, story and plot development of Point Break. If the film is then bad, but not quite as bad as everyone makes out (and by everyone, we mean the filme Nazis that make up the lion’s share of movie review aggregators), the question is, what are its redeeming features and who would enjoy watching the film?
Before we get on to the few positives, it’s worth highlighting some of the more crippling negatives, which make the film so abhorrent to cinemafiles and less than impressive to the rest of the general movie-watching public. The biggest issue is that there’s zero credibility to the story, which centres on Johnny Utah, a YouTube sensation dirt cross biker who decides to become an FBI agent after a stunt goes wrong and his friend ends up plummeting to his death.
Firstly, the stunt is literally stupid, so things start out pretty far fetched, but also the majority of the incidents that follow as Utah manages to go from Academy rooky to point man in a massive international operation are pretty tough to swallow. The case he manages to talk his way onto is hunting down a gang of Eco warrior, extreme sports poly-athlete expert bandits who are travelling the world, wreaking havoc in an attempt to complete a fabled extreme sports challenge that has never been done before. So far, so silly?
If that isn’t enough to rankle the noses of the original purists, the fact that the film completely misses the chemistry and simple elegance of its predecessor is the nail in the coffin. By making things so incredibly convoluted, cold and EXTREME!!! it fails to tap into the comradery, disillusionment and free-spirit that was present in waves (sorry) in the 1991 classic.
In terms of the positives, they’re not really going to be for everyone, but for some people they will be enough to make the negatives bearable. There is a huge focus on extreme sports, ranging from rock climbing to wingsuit flights, so if you like that sort of thing then maybe there’s enough to keep your attention. Equally, there are some stunning scenes, both in terms of the locations included in the film and the CGI effects used to deliver some of the crazier situationas, so from an escapist/visual point of view, again, maybe there’s something to make the 2015 Point Break remake worth a watch.
The cast is pretty much universally woeful, especially Ray Winston (London Boulevard), who seems to be picking up some cynical cheques recently with his efforts in betting adverts and films like this. However, there is a little glimmer of potential from Ćdgar RamĆrez (The Girl on the Train), who plays Bodhi, and Teresa Palmer (Triple 9), who play’s Johnny’s love interest and member of Bodhi’s crew, Samsara.
Overall, the Point Break (2015) DVD isn’t really worth all that much effort and we can’t see it being on many people’s collection list. However, if you’re out of other options and you’re just looking for senseless escapism and some pretty scenes then it might be worth a spin.
Point Break (2015) DVD review: 2.5/5
