Julian RuncanPoint Break: Broken and Pointless
June 8th 2010 18:28
I'm not sure what the hell Point Break was trying to accomplish, but it certainly didn't work for me. The plot was ridiculous (not in the good way), the acting was rough (not in the good way), and the whole film left me asking questions (not in the good way). I wasn't confused because the plot was complicated, I just couldn't figure out how the dumbest cop on the planet managed to make it into the FBI.
As an actor, Keanu Reeves can only convey one emotion properly: confusion. I feel this is part of the reason I was only able to enjoy the first Matrix film. This guy just doesn't pull off action-star well, and this time he's even less credible because his character constantly makes terrible choices.
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but pretty much everything Point Break tried to do was handled better in The Fast and the Furious. I could buy the friendship between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. I could buy Paul Walker taking his cover a little too deep. I could even buy the ending better. Neither film is great, but at least The Fast and the Furious felt authentic. Point Break felt like it was trying way too hard just to make the story interesting, The Fast and the Furious never pretended it had much of a story to begin with.
The film is only mildly entertaining, and the plethora of terrible decisions by the protagonist make it frustrating too. I'll admit Swayze and Busey made the most out of their characters, but it wasn't nearly enough to save the rest of the film. You can predict everything that happens well in advance, and when it finally goes down you're left unsatisfied.
3.5/10
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Comment by PotatoFilm
Comment by Julian Runcan
I Went To Film School
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
While Point Break is what it is, it definitely has some good things in it too, it's got among other things one of the best on foot chase scenes ever filmed.
Made me laugh over what you said about Keanu, haha - too true.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
While I do acknowledge that the narrative of this film is rather questionable and the acting certainly lacking, As a paradoy of mucho bullshit and testosterone junkies the film works well as a guilty pleasure.
I am surprised you didn't see the vibrant film making technique on display either.
Bigelow's use of hand held camera for the foot chase is IMO one of the best ever captured on film. Her use of POV is full of energy and velocity. The editing of certain sequences elevates what could have been pedestrian to the point of unhinged frenzy, without jump cutting to hell.
That you compare the film to Fast and Furious which is as dull as can be says much about taste. I am a car nut (Eg: Bullitt, Vanishing Point, Two lane Black Top, Ronin etc) and must say the CG heavy, over edited and downright mundane action in FF leaves little to be admired. As bad as Canoe and Swayze are, Paul walker and Vin Diesel make them look like method men....the ridiculous story too contadicts itself to the point of insulting.
Sorry for ranting, its not that I love PB but I have a deep seated hatred of FF because it insults everything a good chase film should be.
Comment by Julian Runcan
I Went To Film School
My Johnny Utah hatred must have assumed human form and taken over the reigns for a bit.
Comment by Journeywoman
Great Hair Style Tips
The Mama Sutra
I Dream of Hollywood
Fashion Peach
I don't know, maybe I should be looking deeper, but it's not a film that ever goes deep enough for a reviewer to ever do that without critiquing it as something it was never meant to be in the first place... and as such, whether you like it or not simply becomes a matter of personal taste.
Comment by Samantha Elley
Food Journo
The Sandwich Shak
Vintage Foodie
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Sam