A remake of the 1980s John Milius classic, this version of Red Dawn tells the story of the North Korean army invading the small town of Spokane, Washington intent on bringing the United States to its knees. Dan Bradley's Red Dawn is the equivalent of Patriotic exploitation in telling the story of these young Wolverines who fight for their country. Much like the original, the invasion sequence is one of the best parts, effectively capturing the chaotic almost surreal nature of the situation. The problem with the remake is that the film pays little mind to the fragility of life, treating war like a videogame with no real emotional weight. These kids become the equivalent of trained killers far too quickly, with the film using a simple montage in a petty attempt to cover their asses. While watching Red Dawn I never felt the stakes, with the film far too focused on showing action then establishing the horrifying nature of the situation. That doesn't mean the film never tries for emotional resonance, it does, but it's far too often that these are generic dramatic beats all of which fall horribly flat. The script is pretty awful too with far too much expositional dialogue and opting for cheesy patriotic sentiment instead of humanistic sentiment which would have been far more interesting. Red Dawn does contain a lot of action and for the most part it does entertain, but I just wish it would have treated this whole idea with a little more respect. 5/10
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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