Time to remake Point Break?

Here we go again. Earlier this week, Deadline reported that Alcon Entertainment is set to remake Point Break, the beloved, kitschy 1991 Zen-tinged action flick about surfers who wear Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan masks while robbing banks. The film starred Keanu Reeves and the late Patrick Swayze and was directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). Like the original, the new version will involve an FBI agent infiltrating a crime ring, but against a backdrop of "international extreme sports," not surfing. Good idea?

No way. Such a great film should be left untouched: Forget this remake, says Jeremy Wynia at Get the Big Picture. Point Break is a terrific "adrenaline-filled action extravaganza" that has aged quite well. Rather than remake it, we should just watch the original at the close of each summer as a means of saying "good-bye to yet another glorious season in the sun."

"In a week of remake talk, here's one more… "

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

No way. Such a charmingly cheesy film should be left untouched: "The terribleness of Point Break is what's at the heart of its greatness," says Scott Ross at NBC Los Angeles. It's a "freewheeling guilty pleasure of pure stupidity." A remake couldn't possibly be so bad, and in turn, so good. The new Point Break is likely to be little more than an "exercise in tedium."

"Not sure you can make Point Break even better, but they're gonna try"

And a remake would insult Swayze's legacy: The new team of filmmakers "might as well piss on Patrick Swayze's grave while they're at it," says Matt Kiebus at Death + Taxes. While the original Point Break is a hokey B-movie, "Swayze's performance as Bodhi is mesmerizing and arguably the greatest of his career." Hollywood's lazy cats' inability to conjure up new ideas "absolutely disgusts me."

"Point Break is getting the remake treatment: What's next, Casablanca?"