Imagine if you will that North Korea, with the help of Soviet Russia, uses an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) weapon against the western United States and then takes advantage of our downed defenses to invade Spokane, Washington.  That is the premise of Red Dawn, a remake of a 1984 movie of the same name (in which the Soviets did their own dirty work).  Both versions posit that a bunch of teenagers are able to effectively battle the invaders, succeeding where the U.S. defense forces cannot.  Sure, it’s fantasy, but it’s intriguing socio-political fantasy.

While the premise does not stand up to scrutiny, films such as this are simply not intended to be taken very seriously.  Red Dawn is part coming-of-age story, part revenge fantasy, part military-themed video game with lots of evil villains to serve as targets.  It’s patriotic in an elemental way, without resorting to jingoism because its parameters are so clearly delineated.  The bigger picture of America’s invasion (involving both coasts) is barely mentioned because the spotlight is shining only on those teenage Wolverines who somehow slip unnoticed in and out of town at whim while carrying dynamite and C4 to use the invaders’ tactics against them.

Dan Bradley’s film — some three years in the making, with all sorts of rewrites and alterations worked into the finished product — is by-the-numbers in terms of both its structure and its result.  That the film is sometimes effective occurs because Bradley pays dramatic attention to his characters, and because the situation is so overt that it is impossible not to root for America’s youth to reclaim her virtue.  The invading bullies must be beaten, and why shouldn’t a cross-sectional representation of young Americans be able to do the job?  They did it in 1984 and they’re doing it again.

Fans of serious films will probably never see Red Dawn, and that’s understandable. It’s a guilty pleasure of a movie.  Thankfully, it’s not a total turkey.  It could have used more invasion action, and a script that didn’t telegraph its moves so clearly in advance.  But it takes itself seriously enough not to invite cameos from the 1984 cast and it carries undeniable power in its vision of American humiliation.  It could have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse.   ☆ ☆.  29 November 2012.