It feels like the longer we have waited for the RED DAWN remake, the less people have been excited for it. At first, I thought it would be a good idea to update the story for the 21st century, but as MGM’s financial woes dragged out the release for the new film, I kind of lost interest. Sure, the trailer was decent, but it was nothing unique.
Now, just in time for the film’s Thanksgiving debut, we have a new trailer that pumps up the patriotic angle of the film. Set to a somber version of the Star Spangled Banner, this trailer definitely lays on the “damn it feels good to be an American” vibe pretty thick.
Plot: In Red Dawn, a city in Washington state awakens to the surreal sight of foreign paratroopers dropping from the sky – shockingly, the U.S. has been invaded and their hometown is the initial target. Quickly and without warning, the citizens find themselves prisoners and their town under enemy occupation. Determined to fight back, a group of young patriots seek refuge in the surrounding woods, training and reorganizing themselves into a guerilla group of fighters. Taking inspiration from their high school mascot, they call themselves the Wolverines, banding together to protect one another, liberate their town from its captors, and take back their freedom.
Sweet Jesus does that make me feel good to be an American! I want to go out in my Hummer, smoke some cigars, drink some whiskey, shoot innocent bystanders, and punch hippies and foreigners in the face! I mean, that is what Americans seem like to other countries, isn’t it? RED DAWN looks to promote the stereotype of Americans as xenophobic and violent. At the same time, the fact that they were easily able to replace all Chinese flags in the movie with North Korean ones speaks volumes to the fact that it makes it seem like “all Asians look the same.”
Maybe I am reading too much into it. RED DAWN should be viewed as mindless action entertainment, but it is hard not to politicize such a political film.
RED DAWN blasts its way into theaters on November 21st.
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