Why? That is the question I kept asking myself as I watched the 2015 remake of “Point Break.” It’s a feeling similar to the one I had for the arguably forgettable remake of “Poltergeist” that came out last summer. Neither of these movies needed to be remade, as the originals are beloved by many. Perhaps if they had brought something new to the table or improved upon weak elements of the original’s story, there would be no need to have this conversation. After all there have been remakes throughout history, such as John Carpenter’s remake of “The Thing” or David Cronenberg’s version of “The Fly,” that have managed to top the originals for which they were based off of.

However, when the movie fails to give us a reason for why this story should be revisited, we as audience members are often left baffled. For now though, let’s stick with the new “Point Break” remake. In case you have not seen the original cult action movie from the 90s, here is the basic plot summary. Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Utah (what a name)- a young F.B.I agent on the hunt for a group of bank robbers known as the Ex-Presidents. The Bureau has reason to believe that the robbers may in fact be a group of suffers and decide to send Utah under cover to into the stuffing world. Eventually, Utah crosses paths with a charismatic summer named Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) whose guides him through the surfing world only to reveal that he is actually head of the Ex-Presidents.

The core of the movie resides in Utah’s pulled between his mission and the vibrant subculture he has become a part of. If this all sounds familiar it might be because the first “The Fast and the Furious” movie basically took the same plot and applied it to car racing instead of surfing. While Kathryn Bigelow’s original may not be an exceptional piece of cinema, it’s still surprisingly fun. Bigelow, now mostly known for films like “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” fuses the movie with a sense of kinetic energy fueled by adrenaline action sequences.

Yet, as much as the new “Point Break” tries to top the original’s high-water stunts, it ends up feeling less like an actual movie and more like demo reels for GoPro. This time around the bandits are no longer surfers….let me back up, they’re actually not bandits, but eco-terrorists that believe in saving the environment and redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor. It just so happens that their plan to do this involves killing people. Anyway, the “eco-terrorsits” are no longer just simple surfers, but extreme athletes.

Coming into the Johnny Utah role is Luke Bracey, while Èdgar Ramírez plays Bodhi. However, neither one seems to measure up to Reeves and Swayze, even if Reeves falls more in the category of “so bad it’s good.” The plot of the movie becomes basically just a vague thread allowing for some sort of connection between the various big stunts. While some of these are rather thrilling to watch, together they all seem jumbled together. 2015’s remake of “Point Break” is nothing more than an excuse to compile reel footage of extreme stunts. There, exists no thrill or even simply the fun of the original.

Rating: 2/5

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures