I never saw the original, and this is what I thought of the remake - very enjoyable!

Rating: Null/10 (21 October 2011)

I have not seen the original Footloose, so these comments are based solely on the 2011 iteration - no comparisons with Kevin Bacon's version.
The story is a simple one - in small town Bomont, 5 high school seniors are killed in a car crash coming home from a dance. The town Council, prompted by Councilman and preacher - and father of the dead lad who was driving - Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) passes a batch of laws to protect their kids, including the outlawing of loud music and dancing in public. Into this town, three years later, comes Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald) to live with his Aunt and Uncle following his mother's death. Knowing nothing of the laws he immediately falls foul of the local over-zealous police officer, and gets labelled as a bad influence. He joins in the youth underground music/dancing culture, gets very taken with the preacher's daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) and becomes the driving force behind a move to try to make the town's elders understand that the time has come for them to loosen their grip somewhat.
This is essentially a feelgood musical comprising a number of musical/dance routines (given a strong leaning towards line dancing) hung on a light rebellious youth plot and, as such, it achieves what it sets out to do perfectly satisfactorily - the musical numbers are all enjoyably executed.
There is an almost irrelevant subplot about Ariel's relationship with an abusive boyfriend, and there are some amusing goings on involving Ren's new best friend Willard (Miles Teller) and his inability to dance. Two songs from the original are brought in - Footloose and Let's Hear It For The Boy - and both are given affectionate framings. And it is interesting to have a film where almost all the dramatic tension is driven by Survivor's Guilt - this motivates Ren, Ariel, Preacher Moore, and the town's Councilmen. It is clear that this is a major factor in everything that happens: it is rightly touched upon and, equally rightly given the nature of the film, it is never laboured.
The actors are a pleasure. Dennis Quaid who, of late, has delivered performance which are, to be as kind as possible, phoned in (yes, Pandorum, I'm talking about you. You too, Legion. And GI Joe), here shows us a man whose knee-jerk, grief-driven reaction to do the right thing, has blinded him to the wrong things which have resulted from it. Kenny Wormald (who bears a strong resemblance to English actor Jeremy Edwards) does a nice job of developing Ren from a slightly sullen youth dealing with his own grief to an independent minded young man with many good qualities. Miles Teller is amusing, and the chemistry between the cast, especially the younger members (who can all dance, it goes without saying) is excellent.
But the standout here is Julianne Hough. She can dance, she is achingly beautiful as well as eye-wateringly sexy, and she can act too. She has a couple of moments which merit comment, one involving an argument with her father and the other a brief moment when it is heart-stoppingly clear that, in her case, Survivor's Guilt has damaged her more than anyone realised. And, at the risk of showing myself up to be completely superficial, I must say that she jiggles nicely when she dances. She is going places, I hope.