Take all of the campy fun out of the ‘90s cult hit “Point
Break” and you get this 2015 remake. The action sequences are impressive and Édgar
Ramírez is a dreamboat, but this version of “Point Break” simultaneously takes
itself too seriously and yet not seriously enough. There’s an inkling of an
interesting idea here that gets abandoned halfway through, and even the
thrilling set pieces – like freeform rock climbing and jumping off a waterfall –
aren’t redeeming enough.
We’re fully in reboot land these days, with a shocking
amount of films and TV shows from the ‘80s and ‘90s getting modern remakes. They’re
often totally useless – like this summer’s “Poltergeist,” starring a wasted Sam
Rockwell, or this fall’s abominable “Jem and the Holograms” – and although “Point
Break” isn’t a total waste, it isn’t good, either. It’s like a reboot Brought
to You by Urban Outfitters, with everyone covered in oppressively heavy,
obviously fake tattoos, and wrapped in woven blankets and ponchos, and having
Serious Discussions about the nature of the Earth and the extent of our abuse
of Her, man. It’s like an undergraduate philosophy course with all of the required juvenile posturing.
The original “Point Break” has won fans over in the years
since with the heavy bromance, almost homoerotic, relationship between Keanu
Reeves’s Johnny Utah and Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi, the goofiness of those
presidents’ masks, the allure of an endless summer. “Point Break” is like a
password for a specific kind of movie fan, one who doesn’t necessarily
undervalue campiness. Keanu’s blankness and Swayze’s half-manic, half-Zen
energy worked together like yin and yang. This reboot doesn’t have anything
that balanced.
This time around, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) isn’t a
college football quarterback but a motocross star, well-known for his
hair-raising stunts and extreme lifestyle. But after he is involved in the
accidental death of his best friend, Johnny disappears from that sporting world
and instead ends up in the FBI, where he hopes to put his law degree to good use
and forget his time living on the edge.
His first major case, though, is built on that experience
when Johnny notices that a group of eco-terrorists who are stealing diamonds
and cash and distributing them to the poor – freaking out the FBI, who want to
protect “American interests” – seem to be following a series of obstacles
called the Ozaki 8. By jumping out of skyscrapers on motorcycles and diving out
of planes into underground caves, these people are tackling ordeals that are
meant to bring out personal enlightenment and oneness with nature. And since
that whole thing used to be Johnny’s specialty, he’s sent undercover to
infiltrate the group and bring them in.
That’s easier said than done, though, especially when
Johnny meets Bodhi (Ramírez), whose magnetic presence pulls Johnny in
immediately. It’s not like Bodhi is a fan of Johnny’s – in practically their
first conversation, Bodhi calls out Johnny for having been a sponsored extreme
athlete, selling his identity for partnerships from energy drinks – but something
about Bodhi’s focus and absolutely take-no-bullshit attitude is endearing. A
friendship forms, but it becomes more and more clear that Bodhi is more than
who he says he is – and that maybe he’s more than Johnny can handle.
The biggest difference between this new “Point Break” and
its predecessor is the handling of Bodhi’s ideology: here, it’s a mix of
anarchism and eco-terrorism, with a focus on the Earth and natural resources
and criticism of capitalism; there, it was the search for an endless party, for
a life free of responsibility. The latter sounds goofier, but it’s the former
that in this version of “Point Break” seems clunky and vague. The script
introduces this idea of Bodhi as a warrior for the disenfranchised, but it
never really follows through with what that thinking means past Bodhi liking to blow
stuff up. Ramírez gives a coolly authoritative performance – and DAMN, is the
man attractive – but the film wants us to root for Bodhi without giving us real
reason. It’s a character that can’t escape Swayze’s shadow.
The less said about Bracey, the better, and there are
practically no words for Teresa Palmer, who plays Johnny’s love interest
Samsara and spends most of the movie walking around with a blanket draped
around her, mumbling about the power of nature. If there is anything to
compliment about “Point Break,” it’s the action sequences, which include a
motocross race on the narrow peaks of sand dunes, a snowboarding ride down a
devastatingly rocky mountain, and of course surfing through a giant wave, a la
the original film. But while the stunts are impressive, they lack the impact
needed to make “Point Break” memorable – to make it more than just a misguided
mimicry. It ends up being just that.
Rating:
2 out of 5 Guttenbergs
