Point Break (2015)

Starring: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Ray Winstone, Matias Varela, Clemens Schick, Delroy Lindo, Max Thieriot
Directed by Ericson Core
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Thriller
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An FBI Agent (Luke Bracey) joins a group of extreme sport athletes he believes are also pulling off daring robberies.

Review:

Tim: Did we need a remake of Point Break? The answer is probably no. The original wasn't great, but it was a very strong action crime flick directed effectively by Kathryn Bigelow. We're here, and while the remake was slightly better than I anticipated, it's still not close to the original. We've been here so many times before- chalk this up as another unnecessary, lackluster remake.

The best part of this movie is the idea of the Ozaki 8, these extreme, nearly impossible challenges that honor nature. That was a very cool concept and although fictional, was intriguing to watch. I really enjoyed that aspect of the film. This movie took the extreme sport challenges to the next level- some of the action sequences were truly breathtaking- parachuting into a cavern, flying on wingsuits through valleys, extreme snowboarding- those extreme sport feats were the best part of the film and I genuinely enjoyed watching those moments. That aspect of the film almost made me feel like a remake was warranted. Unfortunately, the story itself lets the movie down.

Outside of the Ozaki 8, the story felt thin and not entirely convincing. I'm still not 100% clear on the intention of the extreme sport robberies. Yes, it's part of giving back, but the whole thing seems incredibly convenient and disjointed from the larger objective. If you truly dedicated your life to completing these challenges, why put the whole endeavor at risk to antagonize law enforcement? The whole thing didn't logically flow and left me scratching my head. The movie asked me to suspend too much disbelief.

The cast was a bit hit-or-miss. I have no idea why Luke Bracey was cast in the Keanu Reeves role. Reeves isn't the most charismatic actor, but he's still significantly better than Bracey. Bracey had a few decent moments, but he was a bit of a yawn in this role. That hurts my confidence in the entire enterprise- you're going to remake a film that was good but not great, and you actually decrease in quality of your lead, especially when Reeves was in the original role. That is really, really bad. It's unfortunate, because Edgar Ramirez actually holds his own as Bodhi. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. I'd have to watch the original again, but he was very close to Patrick Swayze in that film. Ramirez gives the best performance of the film- he's cool, interesting, mysterious. He does a great job with it. Teresa Palmer was unexpected, but I liked her. She doesn't have enough to do and her part is too small, unfortunately. I always like Ray Winstone and he once again added a solid supporting performance here. I can't remember the last time I saw Delroy Lindo, so it was great fun reuniting with him.

Point Break isn't a disaster, it's actually a fairly decent action movie. It certainly improves in certain areas from the original. The problem is that it's significantly worse in others. When you add it all up, this one doesn't reach the heights of the first film. It might not be a totally useless remake, but you really want the film to be better, not worse than the original. In that light, this film fails.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Point Break (1991)