ABCD2 (Hindi) (2015)

ABCD 2 begins with a stunning display of Electron (a form of dance) by a dance troupe called Illuminati - a celebration of neon green, blue, yellow and pink that gets your excitement sky high. The adrenaline rush generated by Illuminati is matched but not exceeded by a troupe called J5 (a Michael Jackson tribute dance troupe) that performs to Psycho Re from ABCD 1.

ABCD (Any Body Can Dance)

I have grown with a healthy appetite for dance in cinema.  Now I don’t mean the usual Bollywood song and dance sequence – they are fantastic in their own right.  I mean movies that are made for and about dance.  The Hollywood variety.  Like Grease, Footloose, Flashdance and of course the #1 dance movie of all time Dirty Dancing. I am sure you get the drift.

Footloose (2011)

I must admit that the reason I saw Footloose (1984) for the nth time was that Footloose (2011) was also playing in-flight en route to Oz. I first noticed the 2011 version was playing and luckily the 1984 original also happened to be on the list. I am glad I saw the 2011 version in-flight and not in the theatre because it is really not a movie that will finish with a feeling of you having utilized your time well for nearly 2 hours.

Firstly let me dispel any doubts that anyone may have had about the 2011 being different from the 1984 hit. 27 years on, Craig Brewer has done nothing to add any value to the classic. In fact if anything, he has eroded the classic tag that the movie had and ruined any possibility of a fan following from the generation of today. Neither Kenny Wormald nor Julianne Hough can come close to the acting capabilities of Kevin Bacon or Lori Singer. Maybe I am begin harsh when I say that of Hough because Singer wasn’t anything much of an actress as such. So I could reconsider that opinion. But Wormald has a long way to go and if he harbours any hope of becoming as versatile as Bacon turned out to be, then I guess he has to put in many times more the effort that what Bacon had to. What disappointed me most was the severe cut in the role of Dennis Quaid and therefore I am probably not surprised with his lack luster effort. Surely Quaid is a better performer than what I saw. More or less the same analysis for Andie MacDowell.

The 2011 version of Footloose is so uncreative that Brewer has taken the concept of a “remake” to the level of a Xerox Machine. Even the dialogues are the same. And the famous scene where Ren reads out passages from the Bible just falls so flat on its face that it ceases to get funny after a while. Changes if any are exceptionally few in number and may get missed as well. The feet tapping in the titling is marginally different but nowhere close to being better.

Footloose (2011) hasn’t released yet in India and for once I would say that the people in the business have made a sensible decision. It really doesn’t have much to offer that is different, new, inspiring or fresh from the original. If you would really want to watch the movie, see the original. Even if I were to ignore the existence of an orginal, independently, Footloose (2011) would be an average movie at best. With the benefit of the doubt – 5 on 10. Sorry Craig Brewer. Got this one wrong I guess.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1510841369/

Footloose (1984)

I have finally added another genre of movies to the list on my blog. Its called “Dance”. And the only movie that could have been better than Footloose (1984) to start this with would have been Dirty Dancing. That too will be added shortly I am certain. But occupying the #2 slot of all time in this genre would definitely be the 1984 version of a movie which starts with that exceptionally addictive Kenny Loggins number of the same name. I am quite certain about most of you playing the opening bars of the song in your head as you are reading this. I can tell you that the song’s playing in my head already as I am typing this…. Been working…. So hard…. I’m punching my card… eight hours…. for what?.... I’ve got this feeling… that times just holding me down…. I’ll hit the ceiling… or else i’ll tear up this town…. Now I gotta cut loose…… Footloose…. Kick off the Sunday shoes…. For more on this visit http://www.lyrics007.com/.

Footloose epitomized the spirt of the youth in the late 70s / early 80s in the US of A. With most of them wanting to get out and really be something and not get stuck in the backyards of the small towns or villages where they have been bought up. They did not want to get stuck in the rut that their parents have been for the past few decades. Now isn’t that what a lot of us have wanted from our lives? To do something different? Whether it is the characterization of Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) or that of his lady love Ariel (Lori Singer) who is the preacher’s (John Lithgow) daughter. The common thread that passes through the movie is that of breaking free. All portrayed through a small town where there has been a ban on any activities that could lead to loss of control over oneself. So no drinking under 18, no unsupervised partying and wait…. NO DANCING. Why? All perpetrated by an incident where the preacher loses his son in a road accident after a party. Not that the preacher has any ill intent. He does all of this only because he doesn’t want to see it repeated. The city council agrees. All till Ren comes in and starts questioning the norm.

Footloose can easily be classified under the genre – Drama. But the music and the few dance sequences just compel me to put it under – Dance. A very young Kevin Bacon is at his aggressive best. And one cannot help but wonder how skinny Lori Singer would be in real life if this is what she looks like on screen. The acting part comes later. The support cast includes an extremely young and much better looking Sarah Jessica Parker and also the motherly Diane Wiest who is somewhat the equivalent of Nirupa Roy in Bollywood (or maybe the other way round). Footloose is a great movie again for a Sunday afternoon. Just good fun with some lazing around. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAZvnPkFpHM