Point Break (2015)

Directed by: Ericson Core | 116 minutes | action, crime | Actors: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone, Teresa Palmer, Matias Varela, Clemens Schick, Tobias Santelmann, Max Thieriot, Delroy Lindo, Nikolai Kinski

In 1991 Kathryn Bigelow (of ‘The Hurt Locker’ among others) directed the original. Keanu Reeves then played FBI agent Johnny Utah, who goes undercover into the surfing world to expose a criminal gang led by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze). Immersed in surf culture with the necessary humor and action, Bigelow’s ‘Point Break’ is an entertaining film and has become a classic from the large collection of 90s action films.

Ericson Core gives ‘Point Break’ a modern twist with his remake. Utah (now played by Luke Bracey) is a huge YouTube star, who has been able to produce big ratings hits with motocross. He always goes to extremes, until one day his best friend has a fatal accident. Utah says goodbye to motocross, goes to college and becomes an FBI agent. One day, his boss presents a number of strange robberies: the criminals manage to escape in a playful way time and again. For example, they race on motorbikes out of an office building on the 100th floor and escape with the help of parachutes and jump out of a plane and skydive into a cave, making them untraceable.

Utah is the only one to recognize the actions of this group of criminals as the “Ozaki 8”. This is a series of trials that are all about respect for Mother Earth. The ideal is to become one with the elements of nature (like surfing the highest wave) and give back to the earth more than you take (blowing up a mountain to intercept a shipment of freshly mined gold). Completion of all eight trials will lead to enlightenment. A noble pursuit, except that they flout the law to achieve their goal. Not to mention the outrageous parties on private yachts or in immense villas on top of the mountain. In order to stop them, Utah goes undercover and tries to infiltrate the group.

The script of this ‘Point Break’ is wafer thin and the dialogues are appallingly bad. While the original focuses on surfing, in this new version Utah suddenly has to snowboard down the steepest mountain, base jump without explanation and climb a rock wall without rope or aids. The fact that he appears to master all these extreme sports makes the film ridiculously unbelievable. ‘Point Break’ feels like an excuse to let tough guys do impressive tricks in all branches of extreme sports. It all looks spectacular, though. Maybe Core should have left out the storylines and dialogue altogether and just made cool videos of extreme athletes. Then he would have had a good chance that they would have become YouTube hits.