Footloose: "Wait, Wait, Wait, Jump Back. Are You Kidding Me? Dancing Is Against The Law"

Director: Craig Brewer
Writer:    Craig Brewer
               Dean Pitchford
Starring: Kenny Wormald
               Julianne Hough
               Dennis Quaid
               Andie MacDowell
               Miles Teller
               Ray McKinnon
               Ziah Colon
Rating:   ****


Home Release: 2012
               

The remake of the vibrant, 80's dance-a-thon movie is here, and surprisingly it actually manages to maintain the same feel of the original, without ruining it's reputation.

The story sees Boston city boy Ren MacCormack (Wormald) arriving in the small town of Bomont following the death of his mother. A road accident years earlier claimed the lives of five high schoolers, prompting reverend Shaw Moore (Quaid) to push for a curfew and a ban on all displays of public dancing. The reverends daughter Ariel (Hough) a goodie-two-shoes-turned-wild child, catches Ren's eye in her denim shorts and red boots. Ren makes friends with Willard and Rusty (Teller & Colon), and with the support of his uncle and Ariels mother (McKinnon & MacDowell) he decides to take on the law and bring back the joy of dance to the town.

Montage-loving direction from Brewer keeps the energy levels up, and a fresh cast all turn out solid performances to make sure the story comes across with some believability. Crucially, Wormald and Hough have enough dance floor chemistry to heat things up. As with its predecessor, this Footloose is about personal freedom, rebellion spirit, divides in generations and how traditional living doesn't have to hinder a life of progress. Despite the cheesiness, its these themes that stop the film from being unbearable, and are even more apparent in this day and age, with people being able to express themselves even more now.

This 'new' Footloose takes everything that made the original fun and enjoyable, and switches it up for the digital generation . It still manages to maintain that guilty pleasure feel, still using scenes such as the energetic warehouse dance where Ren lets out his frustrations. Still setting the movie alight is the movie's anthem 'Footloose', which accompanies the opening credits. Whilst Loggins' hit is used for the opener, it is also covered by Blake Shelton, and a stripped down Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding Out for a Hero' by Ella Mae Bowen is used to it's full emotional potential. The movie itself is like a good cover version, bringing all you expect and want back into the fold for a freshened-up take on an old favourite. The ending falls flat somewhat as Brewer's hardcore punch-up messes with the feel-good tone, but if you can leave your scepticism at the door then this is top-quality Saturday night popcorn entertainment. In truth, it's at times a flawed movie but one that's immensely enjoyable in a guilty pleasure sort of way. As the years have passed and nostalgia has given the film extra weight, Hollywood has been desperately trying to get it remade. So after swapping and changing the cast and director a countless amount of times (Zac Efron, Chace Crawford, Kenny Ortega), Footloose has finally been completed and is now due for a home release early next year.

Footloose - Trailer

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