Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Ren MacCormack is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where loud music and dancing are prohibited. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel in the process.
A shot-for-shot remake of the beloved 1984 original, Footloose (2011) offers little that distinguishes itself from its source material. The plot is virtually identical, earning a low novelty score for being one of the most derivative remakes in recent memory. Acting is competent — Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough are energetic if not revelatory — and the cinematography is polished but unremarkable. The plot itself is thin and familiar even beyond the remake context, relying on well-worn rebellion-against-authority tropes. The ending delivers the expected crowd-pleasing dance climax adequately but without surprise. This is a serviceable but largely unnecessary retread.