POINT BREAK is another of the pointless remakes that have been the bane of Hollywood for the last couple of decades. This time around, it's the turn of the well remembered Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze-starrer of 1991. Aussie TV actor Luke Bracey takes on the Reeves role but fails to make much impact at all; he's certainly not sympathetic and he doesn't have that wide-eyed curiosity that Keanu brought to the role. Edgar Ramirez takes on the Swayze character but comes across as rather bland and perhaps miscast in what is an underwritten part. This film benefits from some great photography, with lots of rugged terrain and one jaw-dropping surfing sequence which might well be the best ever filmed. Sadly, the characters are shallow, the plot contrived, and nobody is remotely likeable. There are a few decent action scenes but, as nearly always, I'd reocmmend going with the original instead.

Extreme athlete Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) loses his friend during a dangerous motocross stunt. Seven years later, Utah is a FBI agent. His boss Hall (Delroy Lindo) has a case of extreme unusual robberies. Utah recognizes them to be part of the Ozaki 8, eight spiritual Herculean tasks with extreme natural forces. He gets help from Angelo Pappas (Ray Winstone) and infiltrates a group led by Bodhi (Édgar Ramírez). He becomes close to Samsara Dietz (Teresa Palmer).

It starts with a ridiculous CGI action scene. This movie has plenty of them. They may be the only compelling goodness derived from this movie. The action is over-the-top and somewhat fun. The story and the actors are another matter. It starts with the very bland Luke Bracey. It's another hunky Aussie. There is nothing to the character and he's unable to inject anything into it. It's hard to remember sometimes but Keanu Reeves has an unique charm that really works well in certain movies. In this one, the movie grinds to a halt whenever there is no action. Also it's hyper-unreal that Utah keeps finding these people in the vast ocean. Realism is not expected but some of the unrealism is oddly annoying.

Point Break was rebooted in 2001, it was called The Fast and the Furious where the surfing was replaced by street car racing.

This remake sees extreme sports athlete Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) who after losing a friend when a motocross stunt goes wrong goes on to become a FBI agent some years later. His boss Hall (Delroy Lindo) sends him to investigate a series of elaborate heists from a gang who behave like Robin Hood robbers.

Utah believes that the group are taking part in the Ozaki 8, eight spiritually extreme sport challenges that coincide with the daring robberies. Utah infiltrates the gang which is led by Bodhi (Édgar Ramírez.)

In its own right the film starts brightly enough with plenty of CGI enhanced action but later on the film actually comes to a stop in the non action sequences when the characters just talk. The film then becomes boring and after a while even the action scenes just get duller. The colour grading is awful making the film look cheap despite the international locations.

The original Point Break directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who would go on to become the first female Oscar winning director found a zeitgeist of Generation X sports action thriller with well staged action sequences. Although not the greatest actors around, Bigelow got charismatic turns from Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze and sturdy support from Gary Busey as Reeves FBI boss.

The remake lacks all of this even though it tried to go on a new direction. I tried to give it a break and approached it with an open mind but alas it is a poor film.