By Jeremy Hannaford (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: November 28, 2012
In the history of war, there have been many forms of resistance groups. France had the French Resistance, Vietnam had the Vietcong – and fictional America has a bunch of gun-toting teenagers calling themselves the Wolverines.
Filled with mismatched pro-American bravado, young innocence forever changed by war and an underwhelming force fighting against unsurpassable odds, the Red Dawn remake starring Chris Hemsworth is as every bit non-cynical as the 1984 original starring Patrick Swayze. But as similar as it tries to be, it is different in the core ideals which prove lacking in this film. Exchanging the sneaky but open minded Russians with a one dimensional North Korean armada, Red Dawn not only changes its villain in both country and emotionality, but they also change the character and the authenticity of the teenagers.
The one thing that the original film had going despite its unbelievable characters was that they lived in a semi-realistic environment. They weren’t the best soldiers because they were just kids, they were always low on food, they were vulnerable and they got cold during the winter. None of these elements exist in the remake. No one gets cold, they always seem well prepared, and the few deaths that do occur are unimportant. This is due in part to some very poor editing. In literally one montage, the teens go from weak and scared individuals to highly-trained guerrilla soldiers. The use of quick editing is a luxury that Red Dawn completely overuses. The cuts in between action sequences are erratic and confusing and cause a loss of intensity.
First time director Dan Bradley’s lack of experience leaks through into the story as the film primarily consists of montages and quick cuts. The teenagers are never really given time to adapt to their new environment or display any form of loss or grief besides a little teary face here or there. Another point to be taken from the original was that despite being semi-successful guerrilla soldiers, they were getting picked off like flies. In the remake, characters seem to die only when Bradley feels like it should happen and it gives nowhere near as much emotional impact as it should because either we don’t even remember the name of the character or the editing was so poorly executed that the loss has literally no effect.
The film’s dialogue screams American patriotism throughout, but rarely is any truly shown or displayed. Even the name of Wolverines isn’t explained unless you remember that one of the teens played on the high school football team. The name and meaning of “Wolverines” was described and maintained in the original. The remake uses it merely because it was in the original. They don’t explain or even seem to care why they just call themselves the Wolverines. The lack of conviction is troubling when these kids are supposed to be fighting for their homes and they can’t even seem to find a decent way to build their characters.
At one point in the film, there is a prisoner uprising and someone just so happens to have a giant American flag attached to a pole and is leading the charge. This is the most patriotic shot in the whole film and it is entirely laughable at how forced it is. Everything else is forced and contrived rather than constructed and displayed. Red Dawn was a pro-American film that was released in the closing days of the Cold War. A remake of it in this generation is both unnecessary and self-degrading.
