Point Break (2015)
Directed by Ericson Core
Remakes are hit-or-miss. Remakes of mediocre actions movies from the early ‘90s are usually miss. That’s the case with “Point Break.” You’ve probably heard about the incredibly exhilarating extreme sports stunts. That’s true. “Point Break” is a spectacle. But “Point Break” kept finding newfangled excuses to show feats of extreme athleticism without sticking to the central point, the plot, or the purpose of the movie.
Former extreme athlete Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) left motocross when he lost his best friend in an accident. Years later, Utah is finishing up training to become an FBI agent when a group of extreme athletes are caught stealing millions of dollars in diamonds and cash. Utah knows they’re trying to complete the “Ozaki 8,” a series of eight tests of nature that will grant enlightenment to anyone who can complete them. No one has. Even Ozaki died during the third test. But Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez) and his buddies are on their way. So Utah goes undercover and infiltrates as he tries to catch them in the act. But when he falls in love with Samsara (Teresa Palmer), who is part of their group, Utah begins to question whether or not these guys just might be on to something.
“Point Break” is filled with unbelievable sights and insane stunts, most of which are real. But it’s more bad than good. Even getting help from the writers of the original 1991 movie, starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, writer Kurt Wimmer (“Law Abiding Citizen,” “Salt”) couldn’t make “Point Break” worth sticking around for. The movie hardly sticks to its shallow plot. Like any bad movie with a law enforcement plot, “Point Break” is full of procedural and jurisdictional fallacies. They say one thing and do another, using “I think we can make it work” as their only reasoning. It’s illogical. Plus, the absurd dialogue is too often shouted. Extreme athletes try using extreme emotions. It doesn’t work. And it doesn’t help that they have two terrible leads trying to be game for anything. Ramirez can be found in a much better role a few theaters away, in “Joy,” which released the same day. Their support isn’t much better. Hothead agents like the one played by Ray Winstone are too commonplace in FBI movies, and foreign people don’t always make for more dramatic actors.
At one point, Utah warns his boss, “It will get ugly.” I’m warning you the same thing. I reached my breaking point about thirty minutes into “Point Break.” In the hit-or-miss world of remakes, “Point Break” is a big whiff.
5.5/10
Cinema or Cine-meh 