Gaby’s Movie Review: Red Dawn, starring Chris Hemsworth & Josh Hutcherson

It has been a long journey for Red Dawn. After years of sitting in post-production, it’s finally releasing in theaters. However, now it has two big stars as part of the cast: Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games). Frankly, they were my main motivators to check out this action flick, which ended up being ridiculous, cheesy, and yet somewhat entertaining.

Red Dawn is a remake of the 1984 film starring Patrick Swayze. I haven’t seen the original and honestly have no plans on ever seeing it. So, I can’t compare how different this new film is from the original. The 2012 Red Dawn follows brothers Jed (Hemsworth) and Matt Eckert (Josh Peck) as they find themselves in the middle of a hostile invasion from North Korea. Jed is a Marine who just came home from serving in Iraq; Matt is a high school senior, bitter about his brother’s decision to leave home after their mother’s death. While fleeing from North Korean soldiers, Jed and Matt end up going into hiding and teaming up with other young neighbors and friends (Hutcherson, Connor Cruise, Alyssa Diaz, Adrianne Palicki). Together, they decide to train and fight the soldiers to get their city back.

The entire premise of Red Dawn is downright ridiculous. Not for one moment did I think that this could possibly happen, or that even a bunch of teenagers can really defeat a group of heavily armed soldiers. (Yes, I’m all for empowered youth, but even some young folks would agree that the plot is implausible.)This movie requires you to suspend disbelief, and once you do, you’ll be able to begin to enjoy what Red Dawn has to offer.

And what does Red Dawn have to offer? For one thing, it’s laughably cheesy. (Keyword: laughably) The dialogue is corny and cliché as hell, but it was enough to make me chuckle at times. The acting just goes right along with it. It’s sort of hard to hate this movie because it is so well-intended. It wants to inspire and genuinely emote, even though it fails at that. Yet, I can’t help but give it a metaphorical pat on the back for at least trying. Also, I like staring at Chris Hemsworth.

Red Dawn is the movie you RedBox to enjoy on a night home with friends. It totally works when you’re with a group of close and enthused friends, rather than a screening room filled with sleepy and serious movie critics. Despite its flaws, it is a fun movie, if not memorable.

Rating: 4/10 stars

Red Dawn is now playing in theaters.

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