Point Break (2015 Film Review)

2015 Warner Bros. Pictures/Alcorn Entertainment
Directed by: Ericson Core; Written by: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Delroy Lindo, and Ray Winstone
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 114 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 4/10

Common sense dictates that when a film is mostly praised for the chemistry and unique energy of its leads, its director's singular style, and the way it captures the certain time and place in which it was made, you do not remake that film. Common sense did not appear to dictate the creation of 2015's Point Break remake.
The original Point Break features a fairly simple, though nutty story. FBI square and ex-football star, Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), goes undercover to infiltrate a group of thrill-seeking surfers, led by the zen-like Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), who have been robbing banks to fund their endless, thrill-seeking summer. This new Point Break takes that simple story and 2015's it into something about the Ozaki 8, eight extreme tasks that must be completed to honor the forces of nature or some such rot, and Bodhi is attempting to complete all of them, while sometimes committing crimes for some reason, and sometimes doing charitable deeds...sometimes. While the original's plot was simply ludicrous, but made perfect sense in the logic laid out by the film, the remake's plot is completely nonsensical to the point that it often feels like even the film itself forgets just exactly what's going on. The plot change reflects little on our current times, unless one wants to cynically note that perhaps nonsensical confusion fits 2015 (the year before the 2016 Presidential election) just as well as wacky, yet easy to follow fun fits 1991 (the year after German reunification).
Patrick Swayze never won an Oscar, and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Keanu Reeves won't add that to his list of accolades before his death. However, those two actors, stars of 1991's Point Break, have a unique energy and magnetic charisma that make both compelling screen presences. If they're getting projected onto a 40-foot screen, you're going to want to look at whatever it is they are doing. Put them together, and it's absolute magic, even if you're only watching 1991's Point Break today on your cell phone in a sunshine-drenched car.
Stars of 2015's Point Break, Édgar Ramírez (Bodhi) and Luke Bracey (Utah), might be fine actors. Hell, I've seen Édgar Ramírez in a handful of things, and he was just fine in them. I'm not about to say he doesn't have charisma. However, Swayze and Reeves' chemistry was lightning in a bottle. Poor Bracey fares particularly poorly here. The Aussie actor is forced to hide his native accent under a stiff and unconvincing American one for absolutely no reason (the plot could have easily made him Australian), and really just seems like he needs a good enema. I'm not sure why there are no longer any living American actors who can play storied American roles (first Superman, now JOHNNY UTAH?!?!), but if you're going to cast an Aussie in this role, just let him be a fun-loving Aussie (sorry for stereotyping Australians, but this is a movie about characters who are supposed to find joy and oneness in nature through extreme sports).
The Utah of this Point Break remake is no longer an ex-football player, but an ex-extreme sports star, who gave it all up when his best buddy died on a motorcycle cliff-jump gone awry. The original Bodhi felt drawn to Utah because he saw a free-spirit wanting to get out of a society-imposed, straight-jacket life. This time, I guess Bodhi just wants Utah to not be scared to do extreme sports anymore? I don't know? Doing anything doesn't really seem to be fun for these guys, as they rarely get excited or smile, and the film rarely exhibits a tone other than dour, as director, Ericson Core, places everything under a harsh grey-yellow filter that gives the impression the film is being shot through a corpse's faded skin.
But the stunts! Wow!
I can recommended this otherwise very lousy and joyless film on the stunts alone. The first surfing scene (the focal sport of the original only shows up in two scenes here) is absolutely stunning, with a surfer's eye view of the inner funnel of a huge wave. I don't know exactly how they got those incredible shots, but I wish they were at the service of a better film! Even more incredible, though, is a scene where Bodhi's group, along with Utah, jump from a mountain, and glider-suit down thousands of feet over-and-through jagged hillsides like a bunch of human flying squirrels. It's got to be one of the most incredible stunts ever put to film. If only such care was put into literally any other element of the movie.