Fans react to "painful" Point Break remake trailer
Has the cult surf movie been turned into a naff extreme sports action flick?
The Point Break remake, due for release this Christmas, hasn't got off to a good start. First, Gerard Butler, who was lined up for the lead criminal role of Bohdi, pulled out of the movie. Now the trailer has provoked some pretty strong reactions from fans of the original 1991 film, starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
Point Break remake looks god awful. Original is $5 on blu-ray. Make the right choice.
— Joey Esposito (@joeyesposito) May 26, 2015
In the new trailer, cop Johnny Utah (Home and Away actor Luke Bracey) chases a bunch of extreme sports athletes across the world in a bid to stop them "disrupting the international financial markets". Cringeworthy lines include: "I believe that, like me, the people behind these robberies are extreme athletes... and they don't care who gets killed in the process".
The original movie was about a Californian surfer gang that robbed banks so its members could travel the world in search of the best waves. The new movie seems to want to appeal to adventurers of all types, with unrealistic James Bond-style snowboarding, base jumping, big wave surfing, motocross riding and climbing stunts, potentially causing it to lose the cult appeal of the first movie.
Criminal Bodhi was a rebel in the original movie, but he had a heart and conscience:
"If you project weakness, that promotes violence, and that’s how people get hurt,” says Patrick Swayze as Bohdi in the original movie. "This was never about the money, this was about us against the system. That system that kills the human spirit. We stand for something. We are here to show those guys that are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins that the human spirit is still alive”.
In the latest trailer, the new Bohdi (played by Borne Ultimatum actor Édgar Ramírez) appears one-dimensional:
"Bohdi do you have any idea how many people you've killed?" says Utah. "How many laws you've broken?"
"The only law that matters is gravity," says Bohdi, as he launches himself off a cliff.
Filmed in Australia, Italy, Switzerland, France, Mexico, Venezuela, French Polynesia and India, the epic scenery may be Point Break remake's only redeeming factor.
Watch the new trailer below to make up your own mind:
Point Break is released in UK cinemas on January 8th, 2016.
