Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) is a former extreme sport athlete completing his training to become an agent in the FBI.
When a team of thrill seeking daredevils begin pulling off heists across the globe, Utah is assigned to the case because of his similar skills.
Infiltrating the team, Utah is able to become friends with its leader Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez) and learn of their philosophy. They rob from the corporations exploiting the working poor, only to give what they steal back to the exploited.
Deep undercover and green, Utah’s superiors begin to wonder whose side he is on.
In their quest to complete what they see as their legacy, the activist criminals will gladly succumb to nature in their efforts. Utah will let them.
We say, “In one way it is very good, in all others it is not.”
TAYLOR: There were several moments in 2015’s Point Break that had me excited, holding my breath, on the edge of my seat. These moments are cinematic triumphs of daring do, usually captured on some spectacular mountainside by helicopter. However, the rest of the film is not very good. It’s technically fine, but the story is dull – the acting duller.
HOWE: You summed up exactly what I was thinking. Yet, the acting, I would say, is even worse than dull, perhaps the worst this year. Yet, on the other hand, I enjoyed the movie. I’d even go so far as saying that I liked it better than the original, which isn’t too much of a stretch seeing it had Keanu Reeves as the main character.
The action scenes are fast, frantic and captured nicely. No shaky hand-held cameras here, which makes for a pleasant change.
TAYLOR: Utah’s FBI superior (played by Delroy Lindo) was the one thing that reminded me of the original, in that he seemed to be the most cliché, the angry, eye-rolling chief character. In the original 1991 film, the “bad guys” were just a bunch of surfers, robbing banks without hurting anyone to afford their surfing life. In the update, the bad guys are Robin Hood with a half-baked philosophy, yet are also funded by a shadowy playboy who throws them sexy parties on his yacht. The plot gets a little too strangely convoluted and tries to be deeper than it is.
HOWE: The story started off nicely but I agree it gets a little lost. Then again, this film isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, so take it for what it is: a pretty good, but terribly acted, action movie.
TAYLOR: The original was cooler, but it didn’t have delusions of grandeur. This new film has bigger, better stunts and looks pretty sweet on the big screen. You’ll just have to ignore its shortcomings. Fans of waves, trails, rocks or sky should see it.
– Howe gives Point Break 3.5 cable cars out of 5.
– Taylor gives it 2.5 wingsuits out of 5.
– Reel Reviews with Brian Taylor and Peter Howe appears in The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.
