In 1984, writer-director John Milius was at the height of his career. He had just completed “Conan the Barbarian,” making Arnold Schwarzenegger a star, had filmed the illustrious Sean Connery in “The Wind and the Lion,” and had written classic screenplays like “Apocalypse Now,” “Jeremiah Johnson,” and “Dirty Harry.” His new project was an action film called “Red Dawn,” envisioning World War III, in which the U.S. is invaded, and American teenagers begin a resistance operation against the foreign occupying army. That film would launch the careers of young actors Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and Lea Thompson. In 2012, Director Dan Bradley (“Spider-Man 2 & 3”) has recreated the Milius magic in his version of “Red Dawn.”
Matt is the quarterback of his Spokane high school team; his girlfriend is cheerleader Erica, his father is a cop, and his brother Jed is a marine, home visiting when World War III breaks out, and North Korean paratroopers seize the city. Led by Jed, Matt and a few other teenagers band to together to fight for their homes and resist the invaders.
Other than a few minor adjustments, the onset of the story is almost identical to the 1984 version, which was set in rural Colorado, where the invaders were Cubans and Soviets, and there was no romantic interest. But as the new movie progresses, it adds a few new wrinkles that add depth to the principal characters, a smidgen of plausibility, and a video game-like element for future marketing purposes. The depth added involves a sibling rivalry between Jed and Matt, and the impact the war has on their romances with Erica and Toni, respectively. The dialogue in the script is not clever enough to hammer home these perspectives, but it is enough to seduce the viewer into empathizing with the characters. The plausibility uptick occurs when we discover the enemy has a secret weapon that delivers an electronic pulse that causes the breakdown of electronic devices: thus we discover how North Korean and Russian armies achieve success against the American military. And the video game element is the search for a North Korean communication machine that can still function when the above mentioned weapon is in use, during a raid on enemy headquarters. But this is still an adventure film with lots of gun fighting, hand-to-hand combat, and explosions, and the emphasis rightly centers on exciting, non-stop action.
Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) is expected to carry the movie in what is primarily an ensemble piece. His brooding Jed has a screen presence that makes him instantly likable, even though the character himself is not particularly strong. Josh Peck (TV’s “Drake and Josh”) is surprisingly effective as Jed’s brother Matt, whose inner struggles cause friction within the group. Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”) plays Robert, the inexperienced and frightened kid who develops into a great asset for the resistance. Isabel Lucas (“Immortals”) plays Erica; she doesn’t really have to do anything but look pretty. Adrianna Palicki (“Women in Trouble”) portrays Toni, the “bad” girl who has had a crush on Jed for years. Brett Cullen (“The Dark Knight Rises”) plays Jed and Matt’s detective father as a loving single parent with dreams for his sons.
The screenplay merely hints at the relationship of the characters —which is an improvement not only on the 1984 version, but on most movies today. But this is an action movie and it delivers on that level. Pace, editing, camerawork, are all designed to maximize the viewer’s immersion into the mayhem, and they achieve the desired result.
“Red Dawn” is a rock-em sock-em action piece that is classic escapism.