Warners Missed an Opportunity with Remake ‘Point Break’

From the Never-Let-a-Golden-Opportunity-Slip-Through-Your-Fingers Department: Considering the acrimonious relationship Hollywood has allowed to develop with women filmmakers—never mind a federal inquiry into unfair labor practices and an untenable record of keeping female directors out of the mix—Warners Bros had a great opportunity to make a statement. If it really had to remake “Point Break”—the film which, way back in 1991, established the filmmaking career of a certain Kathryn Bigelow—why not have a woman do it? Why not use the opportunity to show off new action/adventure technology (presumably, the reason to remake the film at all) and while not exactly coronating a Bigelow successor, at least acknowledge the problem, the history behind the film, the woeful state of women directors in Hollywood and make a gesture of collegiality with half the population?

Nah. The man behind what has to be one of the bigger disappointments this year is USC grad and cinematographer-cum-TV director Ericson Core (he directed the Mark Wahlberg vehicle “Invincible”), whose gifts with the camera, one presumes, should have equipped him for a movie that was essentially going to involve a lot of big waves, rad surfers and pretty pictures. In the original, Keanu Reeves played Johnny Utah (love that name), a rookie FBI agent assigned to investigate a string of robberies, presumably committed by a band of surfers. Patrick Swayze played Bodhi, the leader of the band of surfers. Lori Petty and Gary Busey co-starred. In the new one, Bodhi is played by Edgar Ramirez, Johnny by Luke Bracey; Teresa Palmer and Ray Winstone co-star.

Warners Bros. knew it had a loser; the studio provided no critic screenings leading up to the Dec. 25 opening. The $110 million actioner earned poor reviews and opened in 8th place with $10.2 million, the last entry in a long string of 2015 disappointments for the studio.