The remake of the 1984 movie Red Dawn was released November 21. Jed Eckhert (Chris Hemsworth) is on leave from military duties when this all goes down and escapes with his brother Matt (Josh Peck) and his friends when North Korea attacks America. Jed teaches the teens military techniques, and they revolt against the Koreans, calling themselves the Wolverines after their school mascot. They have to go through the deaths of their friends and families, Matt’s constant whining about finding his girlfriend, and a boy they met up with in the beginning who ends up turning in their location after taking their food. In the end, Matt watches his brother die and then goes to gather more recruits in the fight against North Korea using the same speech his brother used on all of them.
Altogether, I thought the movie was awesome. The action started within five minutes of the movie, which I loved. I’ve never seen the original movie, so I’m not really sure how true to the original story they stayed.
There were a few romances which carried on throughout the storyline. I thought these were pretty annoying. Matt was too attached to his girlfriend which caused one of the wolverines to die, and when Jed died, a girl who he had grown up with but had only been reunited for about 3 days completely freaked out.
I thought the casting was great, even though the last thing I remember Josh Peck in was Drake and Josh. Chris Hemsworth was definitely a terrific choice for Jed as he looks intimidating. I also liked the role Josh Hutcherson played.
One thing I completely hated about the movie was the ending. I felt like there was so much more they could play out. It left me with many questions: what happened to the other members of the Wolverines, how many members did they eventually end up with, and when did the Koreans leave?