The best remake I've ever seen

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2019)

Hands down, the 2011 Footloose is the best remake I've ever seen. In the traditional definition, a story is re-filmed and re-released. There's nothing in Webster's that necessitates a fresh take, although most remakes try to put their own spin on the story. How often have you gone to see a remake and been thoroughly disappointed that scene was cut, entire characters were written out, the modern time period makes the story inaccessible, or someone in the cast tries to say his or her lines the total opposite of how the original did? In Footloose, every single thing is exactly the same as it was in 1984. You can probably count on your right hand the differences, and they're all very minor. The "chicken" game with the tractors is replaced by a figure-eight chase with school buses. See? Not that big a deal.
The script is almost identical. "Do you want to kiss me?" "Someday." "What's all this someday s***?" Every song and sequence is included, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett's original choreography is faithfully stuck to. The costumes are same, too, with the white tank top, the tie on the first day of school, the burgundy tux jacket, the pink fluttery prom dress, and the "Dance Your A** Off" t-shirt! This is truly a remake, redoing a film for modern audiences so they can watch stars they know in roles their parents remember from thirty years earlier. Your mom talks about Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, but you'll tell your kids about Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough. Your mom giggles incessantly and gets a lump in her throat when Chris Penn learns to dance, and you'll do the same with Miles Teller. John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest are replaced by Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell, whom kids today think of as "parent-age" instead of young and beautiful '80s stars.
There's only one person I wouldn't recommend watching this movie. If you're that person who thinks a remake is only good if it changes the original and adds its own spin on it, don't rent Footloose. Wait until West Side Story comes out and have your fill. As for me, I probably won't go to the theaters to see the remake of West Side Story. I'll be too busy watching the DVD I just bought of Footloose.