Papa Vinyard here, now here's a little somethin' for ya...
When Gerard Butler dropped out of the POINT BREAK remake, many (including myself) hoped that his departure meant that the project had stalled out and would be imminently canceled. No one wanted this remake, their Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) was an untested unknown, and there was very little chance that director Ericson Core (what a name) would land another star of the same caliber as Mr. Butler. Why even bother?
Well, someone decided that they should go ahead with this thing anyway, and Core and his producers have settled on Edgar Ramirez to play the role once inhabited by the late Patrick Swayze.
If you don't recognize Ramirez by name or face right off the bat, don't feel bad. Though he's popped up in a multitude of prolific projects, including DOMINO, WRATH OF THE TITANS, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, ZERO DARK THIRTY, and the CARLOS miniseries, he has yet to make a name for himself among mainstream audiences. He's a talented guy, with an imposing physique, but his star power is severely lacking. Lest we forget, Swayze was the real star of Kathryn Bigelow's original (Keanu was still primarily known for BILL AND TED), and his star-power magnetism helps sell the idea of Utah carelessly falling under Bodhi's spell. While I thought Butler wouldn't nail the mix of zen grace and rebellious anger required for the role, at least he is ostensibly a movie star.
Ramirez is a talented actor with a strong presence, for sure, but I'm not sure that's enough to justify his role in this remake. They need someone Utah AND the audience will gravitate towards like the sun. I don't think mere talent is going to cut it here; this ain't that type of flick.
Though I have to admit that Ray Winstone as Pappas is somewhat ingenious casting, I really have nothing positive to say about this remake (the less said about their intention to set this film in "the world of extreme sports," the better). Not to be a dick, but I'm still hoping that it falls through and never gets made. I'm not looking forward to conversations about "the good POINT BREAK."
UPDATED (18:50): Warner Bros. has announced a August 7th, 2015 release date for this silly thing we all hope won't get made. That puts it up against the Jack Black-starring GOOSEBUMPS and the recently directored-up ASSASSIN'S CREED movie. I'd expect either this remake or CREED to move out of the other's way, considering the demographic overlap, but who knows. If WB ain't flinching against Marvel's CAP 3 release date, you think they're gonna clear out of the way of that video game adaptation?
-Vincent Kim-Zahedi
”Papa Vinyard”
vincentzahedi@gmail.com
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