Red Dawn (2012) review

Check out our review of Red Dawn 2012 - a lucklustre remake of the 1984 teen movie

Red Dawn

Red Dawn (2012)

Certificate: 12A

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Josh Hutcherson

Release date: 2012

2 out of 5

2

A remake of the 1984 teen movie that starred Patrick Swayze and C.Thomas Howell as two of the kids defending their town from invading Russian forces, this replaces the Commies with North Koreans and has Thor star Hemsworth as an ex-Marine leading the pack of teens outwitting evil soldiers who threaten their all-American right to drink beer and party.

After gathering dust on a shelf for more than two years (the movie actually started shooting in 2009), this tedious tale only sparks into life during the action sequences as the pimply resistance (dubbing themselves the Wolverines, the name of their high school football team) escape the insurgents and plan an attack.

While this has its moments, thanks to ex-stunt co-ordinator Dan Badley’s pacy direction in the action sequences, there’s none of the tense atmosphere of the original movie, which benefitted from the eighties American paranoia that the Russians really were going to invade – North Korea may indeed be a threat to the US in the 21st century but it’s unlikely they’d parachute in when they could (possibly) nuke them from a distance. One for Hemsworth and Hutcherson fans only.

Is Red Dawn (2012) suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...

None. Parents should note this does have more bad language than some 12A certificate films, including the f-word.

If you like this, why not try: Tomorrow When The War Began, Red Dawn 1984, The Hunger Games, Lord Of The Flies, The Outsiders,