Remember when action movies had red-blooded ‘Muricans slayin’ Commies? Thanks to Hollywood’s lack of original ideas, those days are back! All-Australian American Chris Hemsworth leads a ragtag bunch of heroes against the freedom-hating North Koreans in an updated remake of the Cold War classic, Red Dawn.

You know the story: World War III begins when enemy forces invade the American Midwest (cleverly avoiding the predictable metropolitan centers on the coasts). A group of teenagers escapes to the mountains, where the fight back against the biggest war machine in the world. The movie also stars Josh Hutcherson and Adrianne Palicki.

I wonder if this film will pack the same punch as the original, when some people genuinely believed the Soviets could come over the Arctic ice cap at any time. The North Koreans may have The Bomb and the largest active military in the world- but they don’t have the resources to get all those troops and weapons over here. However, the “new weapon” they discuss in the trailer- a non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which can knock out electronics without an explosion- is an interesting choice. Weapons like this do exist, but probably aren’t strong or accurate enough to do the damage implied here.

But like I said, the North Koreans are kinda busy trying not to starve. Which makes me wonder if the Asian enemies- not actually identified in the trailer- are meant to stand in for China, a nation more feared in much of the collective American psyche. And if so, shouldn’t this be a movie about a foreign power buying up all the debt of a tiny Midwestern town, and then coming to collect?

What do you think of the first look at Red Dawn?

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