Red Dawn

[lety]

If the new Red Dawn didn't have Chris Hemsworth, hero of Thor and wielder of a gigantic hammer in The Avengers, and Josh Hutcherson, dreamy love interest of Katniss in The Hunger Games, in the lead roles, it's a sure bet the film would have gone straight to DVD. Filmed way, way back in 2009, long before Hemsworth played a demigod or Hutcherson upped his fan base by starring as Peeta in The Hunger Games franchise, this version of Red Dawn provides in-your-face action along with plenty of unintentionally humorous moments. And if all you're interested in is watching bad guys get blown away and buildings get blown up, then Red Dawn is worthy of a viewing at home on cable, but not worth the price of a movie ticket - no matter how big an action geek you are.

It's highly unlikely that 30 years from now anyone will be looking back with fondness on this 2012 release or paying it much mind if it happens to show up on cable, the way we do now with the first Red Dawn.

 

Now, not everything about 2009's-delayed-until-2012 Red Dawn is horrible. Chris Hemsworth rises above the material, playing the older brother home from the war who's forced into creating a ragtag fighting unit out of his younger brother (played by Josh Peck) and his high school friends. It's not Hemsworth's fault that the new Red Dawn - a remake no one was begging to see done - fails to live up to its predecessor. Hemsworth's actually the best thing about Red Dawn.

Not faring so well are Hemsworth's two main co-stars. Josh Peck is saddled with playing one of the most annoying characters we've add the displeasure of watching on screen this year, a character who's vastly different than the same character in the 1984 version. Peck also looks nothing like Hemsworth or his film dad (played by Brett Cullen in a too-short role), and I'm going to venture a guess that had director Dan Bradley known what we know now, he would have flip-flopped Peck with Josh Hutcherson. Hutcherson's third banana here, and acts circles around Peck.

If you can wait it out and make it through the first hour, the final 30 minutes pays off with a decent finale. But by then, the sun will have set on most audience's patience for this generic action film that wasn't necessary nor wanted in the first place.