Review: Point Break

Out of the recent spate of unnecessary remakes comes Point Break, based on the successful 1991 classic starring Keanu Reeves. Whilst there were certainly very few people desperate for a remake, the fundamental issue with this version was that it abandons all that was great about the original and remodelled the story into a glossy spectacle with no compelling substance behind it.

Cocky protagonist Jonny Utah, played by Luke Bracey, is an ex-motorcross legend, turned FBI agent. Through an investigation into bank robberies, Utah teams up with eco-warrior Bohdi (Edgar Ramirez) who together, jet set across the globe on a spiritual journey. This represented the most elaborate and dangerous undercover mission ever attempted by an FBI agent as each stop involved increasingly perilous stunts—which included base jumping, snow-boarding and vertiginous rock climbing. Bohdi and his team claim that, by undertaking this spiritual journey, they will be at one with the planet—which came across as utterly ridiculous due to the hugely unconvincing performances across the board, and that will leave you praying it’s all one big wind up.

The film’s opening explains how Utah ended up in the FBI due to his tragic past, and his extreme sports knowledge and abilities allow him to uncover a possible link between recent crimes, leading him to pass off as a fellow extreme sports enthusiast once undercover. Whilst this opening section was entertaining, the entire film was derailed because of the following irrelevant and self-indulgent sequences that destroyed any kind of attachment to the unfolding events about to happen. For example, an investigation into a surfing phenomenon turned into a lavish boat party that was wildly insulting to any viewer who were not here to watch deleted scenes of Entourage; and it was clearly a cheap gimmick aimed at impressionable teenagers. Not long after, Utah is involved in an underground scrap that seemed massively out of place and resulted in the film to completely lose its focus.

After this early muddle, the story progressed through a number of spectacular set pieces, which were suitably exciting and realistic due to the use of practical effects, and included one vertigo inducing showdown that was surprisingly tense. But these set pieces were undermined by the absence of any real characterisation to lead up to any sense of consequence or tension. This issue could not be overstated. Utah and Bohdi showed no emotion throughout and barely gave scraps of compelling dialogue necessary to humanise them. As a result it was impossible to know which side Utah was on while he strayed between FBI agent and spiritual adrenaline junkie; as he permanently resembled a difficult teenager other than reflecting any complicated emotions. The supporting cast were equally uninteresting: Ray Winston was given little to do as European field agent Pappas, and Delroy Lindo’s Instructor Hall was embarrassingly clichéd as Utah’s gruff FBI commanding officer.

Despite the issues of originality, it had Keanu Reeves’ spirited Utah, and it was full of emotion and excitement. Here, there is little to get invested into as the characters were simply dull. Bohdi and his tree-hugging gang’s behaviour were so strange and hard to believe that it wouldn’t have been a surprising development to discover that they weren’t human at all.

Point Break should serve as a warning that remodelling an action film with a shiny new cover and more extravagant action means nothing; if by doing so, the soul of the original is removed. Charmless at best and deeply insulting at worst, Point Break was a predictably troubling development at a time when classic films were being remade at an increasing rate.

2/5