Footloose Music Video

Play of "Footloose"

Fake ID Music Video

Another remake that fails to live up to the original...yay? 

"Footloose" was not only a great eighties movie that defined the sense of teenage rebellion within an unfair society, but it served as a great allegory about the many cons of censorship.  Showing how in society we should be free to express ourselves creatively like through dancing or music, for example.  However, it was also a touching story about the effects of love and loss.  How sometime as our children get older, we have to learn to let them go at some point, and hope that they take the lessons that we've taught them to heart when venturing out to the real world.  Although the original film was a bit campy at times, with some of it's over the top moments, it was still a great movie.  A timeless story that still holds up to this day like any classic would.  Sadly, I can't say that about this remake. 

Don't get me wrong, the new film is fairly decent for what it is, but it fails to live up to the original.  Like most remakes, this film still follows the original's story line, with a few added twists here and there to make it interesting.  Unfortunately, none of these twists come off as charming, or as clever as I'm sure the writers for this film were hoping.  Some of these twists include little things like the dancing warehouse scene with Ren; where instead of pulling off a well choreographed and over the top dancing display that we saw in the original, we get a scene where Ren dances angrily and displays a few gymnastic type moves, to shake off his frustration, only to end up making a fool out of himself, as he literally falls on his a**. 

Granted, I'll admit it was funny to see Kenny Wormald (Ren MacCormack) fall on his a**, but it kind of kills the emotion of what that scene was supposed to represent.  In the original, the dancing warehouse scene was supposed to represent the last place where Ren would vent out his frustrations privately, as the entire town of Baumont has outlawed rock music and public dancing.  To make matters worse, most of the town labels him as a bad seed under false allegations and pretenses; thus he goes into an abandoned warehouse to express himself through dancing to get over his frustrations of the town.  Sure, I'll be the first to admit it does sound kind of stupid for a guy to dance inside a warehouse alone, but the scene served as a great allegory to show the character's internal conflict, and hidden desire to express himself in a society that has been forcing him to repress his creativity instead.  In the remake, the scene basically serves the same purpose to an extent, but it quickly makes a joke out of it towards the end when he falls on his a**.  It's like MTV productions thought that portraying the scene as it was originally intended wouldn't connect with many of today's modern audiences, so they figured making a mock up of that scene would do a helluva a lot better.  Personally, I would have to sorely disagree with this new approach to the scene, but that's just me. 

Of course, this really isn't the biggest twist they added to the original's story.  Unlike the original, Ren's mother dies of Lukemia, as this is later used for him to relate to Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) on a personal level, when he tries to appeal to his sensibilities about allowing the high school seniors to have their dance; in spite of the Reverend and city council's protests against public dancing and rock music.  Although, I will admit it was a rather ingenuous twist to the original's story, as Reverend Moore's rationality behind the ban was because his teenage son got drunk at a dance, and died in a car crash while listening to rock music; thus is why the city of Baumont has banned both of them from their city.  However, in the original, the scene where Ren tries to appeal to the Reverend's sensibilities is still there, but it's still every bit as deep without the twist of Ren's mom being dead. 

Another thing worth noting here, the original was more direct to the point with it's message in regards to the dangers of censorship in society, while telling an engagingly deep yet heartfelt story about a repressed teenage youth.  Whereas the remake, it tends to suffer from various pacing issues, and it adds filler moments that never quite go anywhere, or were completely unnecessary for the film.  Granted, they don't ruin the movie by any means, but it just tends to slow down the pacing of the movie.  One scene for instance, it shows exactly how the Reverend's son dies, as it was never shown in the original.  But how is it even necessary to show us?  Does it add to the drama or the internal conflict of what Reverend Moore goes through in this film?  The quick answer to that is that it doesn't.  The original never showed the death scene of the Reverend's son, and it still managed to remain every bit as deep and potent. 

However, as far as remakes go, I wouldn't say this is by far the worst, but it definitely lacks the appeal and potency that the original had going for it.  But, for what this remake tries to be, it's really not that bad of a movie, as it still manages to tell an engagingly deep story in spite of it's flaws. 

As for the performances of this movie, I can't really say that anyone in this particular film stood out for me, but I was rather impressed with Dennis Quaid's performance though.  Granted, he's certainly no John Lithgow in this role, but he still manages to portray a strong yet surprisingly sympathetic and caring antagonistic role that the movie required. 

Overall, I'd have to give the remake a two out of four.  It's definitely worth a rental, but I wouldn't pay to see this in theaters.  As I said before, it's not as bad as most remakes in general, as I'm sure a lot of younger audiences might like this new interpretation better.  However, if you loved the original movie, then you might not like this remake so much. 

Comments

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sending

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

Your welcome.  Anytime.  Yeah, it is rather funny that they would change that part of the character just to cast the guy.  I guess they felt he was the only person to play that part.  lol. 

gryphin423

6 years agofrom Florida

LOL Stevennix!  That is funny, I guess they really wanted him badly for that role!  Thanks for the info! 

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

Thanks Tank.  I'm glad you liked the review.  I agree with you, as the original was so well done that it seems like a hard act to follow if you ask me.  Anyway, thanks again for stopping by, and for sharing your thoughts with us. :) 

Tank

6 years ago

Nice review.  I saw the original and I loved it.  So part of me is happy that the old movie seems to still be the better of the two. 

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

lol.  that's true.  don't get me wrong, I think lori singer is cute in the "girl next door" sort of way in the original, but I would still pick Julianne Hough if i had a choice between those two. 

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

also goes with the times. 

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

lol.  Yeah, that's true.  I forgot about that.  At least that's one thing that the remake has over the original.  lol.  No offense to Lori Singer, but I think Julianne Hough is way hotter than she is if you ask me.  lol. 

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

Julianne Hough.  BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE....lol

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

I don't know.  What does the remake have that the original doesn't? 

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

you know what the remake has that the original didnt???? 

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

@Bruce

Well I hope your wife and her friend enjoy the film more than I did.  Don't get me wrong, the remake is fairly decent, but it's just not as great as the original.  But then again, what remake ever is as good as the original?  lol.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by again to read my hub on this, and thanks for linking this hub to your top 2011 movies of this year. :) 

@Paradise7

Yeah, I don't disagree.  I think the main problem is that they try to over dramatize the remake in certain areas by adding pointless subplots and scenes that really never add anything to the story as deeply as they'd like it to be.  I'm sure if you see it, you'll probably still like it, but I just wouldn't expect it to be anywhere near as great as the original though.  Anyway, thanks again for stopping by paradise, as it's always a pleasure seeing you. :) 

@gryphin423

lol.  Thanks, I'm glad you liked the review, but I'm sorry to hear that you didn't care much for the remake.  After you mentioned how you looked up Kenny's background, I looked up to see where Ren MacCormack was from originally, as I could have sworn they said in the original that he was from Chicago, so I googled it to confirm this before posting a reply message to you.  And guess what i found?  It turns out that Ren was originally from Chicago in the original footloose, and NOT from Boston.  I guess since Kenny couldn't lose his accent, they just rewrote the character, so it wouldn't be too distracting in the remake.  lol.  Can you believe that? 

Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by to read my hub. :) 

gryphin423

6 years agofrom Florida

The remake paled in comparison to the original.  Willard was the only partially interesting character.  I had to look up Wormald's background because if he had been faking that Boston accent he was darn good, but no, he's from Mass. I went, I saw, wish I had those hours back.  Good review! 

Paradise7

6 years agofrom Upstate New York

I voted for the original even though I haven't seen the remake, just because I loved the orignal so much.  It was a hard act to follow. 

UltimateMovieRankings

6 years agofrom Virginia

Interesting review...I will not being seeing this at the theater....as 2 out of 4 makes it hard to spend that much money on an average movie.  My wife on the other hand is seeing Footloose tonight...the strange thing about that fact is she is seeing it with the same friend she saw the original with 27 years ago.  I have included this hub on my Top films of 2001 hub.  Voted up and awesome. 

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

Nickalooch out. 

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

lol. 

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

damn you Ryan Seacreast

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

lol.  Yeah, I figured as much, when you said you liked her not because of her acting or dancing, so I figured looks had to be it.  lol.  Although, you are right, she is a very attractive girl. 

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

thats a different story lol.  ive seen previews and i know what you are getting at.  I'm just commenting on her good looks obviously

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

lol.  Are you sure you don't like her for her dancing?  lol The moves she does with Kenny Wormald when they dance might make you think otherwise once you see it.  lol ;)

Nickalooch

6 years agofrom Columbia, MD

Havent seen it...but I do like Julianne Hough.  Not for her "acting".  Not for her dancing. 

AUTHOR

Steven Escareno

6 years ago

Well to be fair, I wouldn't say the remake is a bad movie, as I thought it was okay.  And if I hadn't seen the original, then this might have gotten a higher rating.  However, in comparison to the original though, I just thought this new one didn't quite live up to it.  However, that's just my opinion on it, but I'm glad to hear you liked the remake a lot more than I did though. 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. :) 

Husky1970

6 years ago

Saw the remake this past week and enjoyed it very much.  Thought it was well done and that the acting was good.  I guess I would have to rent the original to be able to compare fairly. 

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