Footloose

I was a teen when the original movie came out, and I also live near Lehi, Utah where it was filmed which made me think fondly of the movie whenever I drove by the Lehi Roller Mills. (Today it is a sprawling metropolis, resembling little of the sleepy little town like in the movie.) When I heard another pointless remake was coming out, I decided to give it the Redbox treatment instead of completely boycotting it.

After watching it with my wife who had never seen the original, I was able to say, "Not so bad, but pointless as a remake." Most of the original music (which I still love) was recycled into something recognizable but not lovable. The scenes played out nearly identical to the original but with different actors. The whole way through it, I had the feeling that the director was watching the original on a hand-held device, then turned to the actors and said, "I have an idea for this next scene." If I recall correctly, even the dialog where it wasn't modernized with MP3 players (instead of cassette players) and cell phones (instead of...what the heck did we have?) was word for word.

Usually remakes are for big block busters where today's technology and special effects can outshine the feeble attempts of the past and make a great story better by sucking the audience in. This movie had none of that, and in summary, became another pointless Hollywood rehash for quick cash. The only improvement I could acknowledge was a sub-plot that explained Ren's actions a little better, but it was still not an excuse to remake a classic.

My advice: watch the original. It's much better.

The previews looked terrible but I wanted to like it and thought maybe it would be fun fluff. Nope. The original, '80s version wasn't rocket science but it was fun and sweet with great music and was loved by kids and adults. My mom played the soundtrack all the time. The premise of the original was taken with a grain of salt. In the remake they try to focus on the premise by getting all dramatic and emotional which just makes the fact that dancing is outlawed outrageous and comical. Not to mention, why would they outlaw dancing for drinking and driving? That's rather far fetched. In the original both Ren and Ariel had problems...but they seemed to deal with them like any other teen, with trademark angst, so, you could identify with them and like them. In the remake they have therapy kind of anger and issues that I could not identify with and the script failed to make the characters sympathetic, so, I didn't care about them. Ren was more just angry and a bit of a jerk (though, lesser in the sense that they added much bigger jerks to this film, I suppose in an attempt to make him more likable, though, that failed), and Ariel was also angry, reckless, slutty, bratty, and made her best friend angry...what is to like about that? In the original, Kevin Bacon was cute and charming and a leader. In this one Ren is kind of dorky, has a weird Boston accent that comes in and out, brooding, and everyone in the film is angry, rebellious and breaking the law of dancing so there is no real reason for Ren to even be in this film other than to add to the mix. He doesn't stand out in anyway, he just seems like some random face in the crowd trying to get through school so he can grow up to be an angry adult who works as a mechanic or something.

In the original there was a great pop soundtrack which worked and held the film together and made it fun. In this one there is country, hip hop and rock? None of it holds together as one working piece, kind of jumps you around, and doesn't give you any sense of the film. I mean, pick a freakin' theme. Just one.

In the original it was just a bunch of kids who liked to dance. In this film apparently everyone in a small Southern town is a professional dancer and likes to create synchronized line dancing to '80s songs. In the original you felt for their plight because the rules put upon them were ridiculous and Ariel was reckless because she felt pent up by the rules. In this version they were doing the exact same things that got them into trouble in the first place. There was no change, it was just illegal so they weren't really pent up and acting out. Anywhere in America it is illegal for minors to drink but minors get together in field parties and house parties, anyway. And, realistically, you could get a ticket for playing your music too loud and disturbing the peace. It just depends on the cop. Also, of course if a father sees his daughter behaving in a slutty manner with some new boy he's not going to want her to see him and will probably ground her. So, the point of this films is void. In the original the point was the rules were ridiculous and the parents were over the top. In this film they're mostly just being parents.

Also, Ren vandalized the placer where he works?? Not only is he an idiot but clearly he likes to 'cause trouble. He seems more like someone who is going to end up in jail than someone who is going to be a hero and make a difference in a town.

Clearly this is just a film where someone was trying to profit off the 'Step Up' success and use an old, popular brand to try to draw a crowd. Why not just let the film survive on its own rather than trying to meld some weird country and hip hop world together. It just seemed forced, calculated, ridiculous and unrealistic. If most of the film seems ridiculous and unrealistic you lose the point in watching it. I really get the sense that the writers don't have much point of reference of the world other than living in Los Angeles and watched a bunch of episodes of 'Gossip Girl' so they could understand the teen plight and how they interact, then thew a country hillbilly meets Boston spin on it. Considering, in a lot of small towns the kids are still fairly innocent and polite, it would have been easy to stick to the original film rather than try to make this an 'updated' film where all kids are angry, bratty and doing pretty much everything to make a parents cringe. Why would anyone like, admire or want to be those kids?

This movie sucked big time! They remixed all of the songs from the original for no reason and it sucked so bad! I almost wanted to throw up after seeing it. The dancing is just so embarrassing and it basically craps all over the original. I'm so appalled that this movie has a rating higher than a one. It sucks so bad it should of been rated the worst remake in the history of remakes! I would much rather see somebody suffering a horrible death than ever watch this film again. I feel embarrassed to be called a human being because this film shows how stupid we all are! We let this happen and now there's no hope. If aliens come down from space and see this movie they will probably look at us as if we are the dumbest living thing on the planet! This movie is the reason an apocalypse should happen! Overall the film sucks so bad I rated it a -1,000,000,000,000 out of 10 because it is the absolute worst movie ever made!

To the same extent Ava Gardner movies lingered on her face in the 1950's and Jessica Alba movies visually caressed her abdomen in 1990's movies so does this moving on the backside of Julianne Hough. Likely this has partially to do with Craig Brewer's personal interests and a lack of other interesting images to look at in a pointless remake of the Kevin Bacon "classic" (assuming you grew up in the 80's). The main drag on the film grows from the lack of a Kevin Bacon-level compelling talent among the cast. When Kenny Womald utters the iconic "let's dance" to the camera you could picture yourself opting to sit this one out instead. When Dennis Quaid as Ariel's father and town elder finally has his change of heart, it comes as no really emotional catharsis given Quaid's earnestness and track record as the good guy leading man. Now Randy Quaid would have made an interesting and likely challenging from a product standpoint casting choice. Julianne Hough plays Ariel as more sleazy than fun-loving and her dance moves do kind of make you agree to an extent with the Reverend. As always, Andie MacDowell brings her inexcusably flat line readings to a part that could have been cut from the film with little effect. Everyone else in the film comes across as the indistinguishable chorus line from a traveling company version of the Footloose Musical. Having said all that, the movie brings some entertaining visuals although it someone screws up the soundtrack; the version of "Holding Out for a Hero" used her is a sacrilege of the original Bonnie Tyler version of the Jim Steinman song. In short, see the original instead; although it wasn't very good either, the music was amazing.

Like usual, I am beaten to the review page by the wannabes that made this wretched film. The studio hacks and lackeys got here and posted rave reviews first. This was lame, not that the original was all that, but did they really have to try this? Who is this Hough girl anyway, saw her on a zits commercial and it's like, "hey all, Julianne here" like anybody that does not watch one reality flick would know her. I promise this crap movie will not help, it is a stinker. Is it as good as the last? No where near. It is pretty much the same, Quaid turns in a good performance, as usual, but I wish he had turned this down. The rest of them, mediocre at best. Is Hollywood out of ideas? Is writing new material that hard? I think the remake era is over, please come up with something new and use real stars, not reality hacks who have long since been over their fifteen minutes.