Footloose: Not your average remake
October 13, 2011
Remakes of classic films often are a let down to the audience that has gathered to watch them. They often complain that the new film is so different from the old that the elements that made the old film great are lost.
However, the new remake of “Footloose” is not one of these films.
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The new film starring Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough is very true to the original “Footloose,” released in 1984.
The story told by both the new and old films is the same. A town suffers the loss of five teenagers that were coming home from a dance, and the parents of the town then pass laws that make dancing illegal.
It is only when city boy Ren McCormack, played by Wormald, enters the town that these laws are challenged by young people, including the preacher’s daughter Ariel, played by Hough.
The storyline is not the only thing director Craig Brewer kept the same.
Several of the lines throughout the film are the same as those in the first film and even the silhouette of Ariel’s prom dress resembles that of the original.
However, as with any remake, the new film has aspects that are different from the old.
Most of these changes were done for the sake of modernizing the film, and this is apparent to the audience. For instance, Ren’s music is played on an ipod, and the music he listens to is from this generation. Also, the dance moves displayed in this film have been updated to show a more modern style of dancing.
These changes, though minor, make the film something the youth of 2011 will enjoy and will not see as silly.
All of the new and the old put together make this film an enjoyable remake. It is a feel-good movie that will show young viewers that it is okay to have fun because you are only young once.
Also, the film can be a lesson that sometimes a person just has to stick up for what he or she believes in.
Despite the fact that everyone knows how it ends, and some of the themes are clichéd, this movie can still easily become a favorite of this generation.
Fans of the first movie who are skeptics of this remake should give it a chance. The 2011 version does not ruin the story, but it has preserved it for this generation and future generations as well.
The film will be released in theaters Oct. 14.
