Red Dawn - 1 smile

“Red Dawn,” a totally unnecessary re-make of the 1984 original, sat on the shelf since 2009 partially because of the financial problems of MGM, the studio that made it. The other reason is that it’s pretty awful. The original “Red Dawn,” co-written and directed by John Millius, reflects Millius’ belief in the Soviet menace. So in that movie we have the Soviet Union, with the help of Cuba, invading the United States. America fights back, of course, in the form of some Colorado teenagers turned resistance fighters. Pretty silly stuff, but it proved to be pure popcorn entertainment and it acquired cult status because its cast included Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen. Now comes the re-make and what was silly fun becomes just plain stupid.

Originally the bad guys were the Chinese, which seems plausible, but after the film was made, studio execs decided that would hurt ticket sales in the lucrative Chinese market. So through digital magic, everything was changed to North Korea. And, for whatever reason, Spokane, Washington (really? Spokane?) becomes the prime target, where the invading forces run into a band of suburban teenagers led by Jed Eckert (Chris Hemsworth before he became Thor), a Marine on leave from his unit. Jed’s group includes Josh Hutcherson (of Hunger Games) and Connor Cruise (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s son). Some of the battle scenes are exciting, but most of the movie is undermined by no character development and shaky camera work. Skip this one and wait for it to be on cable. Nov. 23, 2012