Point Break

Long before she won an Oscar, Kathryn Bigelow directed Point Break (1991), a bank robbery thriller involving California surfers, starring Keanu Reeves as FBI agent Johnny Utah, and Patrick Swayze as the iconic hedonistic surfer/culprit. This remake is set in the world of extreme sports. The new Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) is a motocross racer who goes undercover after a personal tragedy that leaves him guilt-ridden. Utah gets embedded with Bodhi (Édgar Ramírez), the ringleader of a mysterious, eco-activist group, who participate in a series of globetrotting extreme-sports “ordeals” that were supposedly devised by an Asian Zen mystic. The group supports their lifestyle by robbing the rich to feed the poor, defying death to “honor the Earth” in order to achieve nirvana. Working from a confusing, emotionally insipid screenplay, director Ericson Core concentrates on the spectacle aspect, serving up visually impressive stunts, including gnarly surfing on the massive swells off Teahupo'o in Tahiti, wingsuit flying over the Swiss Alps, and dizzying rock climbing at Angel Falls in Venezuela. What's missing—besides coherence—is any sense of humor in this pointless remake. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (8 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are stunt featurettes on “Rock Climbing” (2 min.), “Wingsuit Flying” (2 min.), “Snowboarding” (2 min.), and “Motocross” (2 min.), and bonus DVD and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a pointless remake.] (S. Granger)