Why 'Footloose' is most fun you'll have at the movies all year

Let's be real here, if you don't enjoy movies ironically or never got a kick out of the antics of the MST3K guys, then you may not agree with me. But let's say you love rifftrax AND you grew up on the Footloose soundtrack, then I think you need to race to the closest movie theatre and watch the remake of Footloose. To borrow from another dance movie that's been remade, you'll have the time of your life!

A little background: long before I saw the Kevin Bacon classic or even knew the name Kevin Bacon, I knew the musical stylings of Kenny Loggins & Co. from the Footloose soundtrack. My mom used to play it while getting us to help her clean the house. I knew all the words to all the songs and I thought 'Almost Paradise' was the most romantic song ever. [If you are interested, I also knew all the words to several Rod Stewart songs and my brother and I had a full lip sync/dance number to Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called to Say I love You' -- from the RECORD.] Ahem, when I finally did see Footloose, which I did not realize was a movie until I was at least ten, I remember watching the opening sequence with my brother and feverishly dancing along, so excited that all my favorite songs were on the big screen! Of course I loved the original; I already loved the music, what more did I need!?!

Given my history, I was poised to love/hate Footloose remake. I saw the trailers and everytime one came on I'd think "that looks like Footloose, except it looks too ridiculous." Turns out, I was right. But it was AWESOME. No really, I loved the movie! It was funny on purpose and not on purpose with the terrible scriptwriting. The rifftrack practically writes itself. The poor actor/dancers are better dancers than actors, which is nice, but make all the talking parts delightfully funny. While the framing of the story could have been better updated to reflect present day concerns a bit more, I can let that go. It's Footloose -- a movie premise based on the idea that an entire town would ban dancing due to a teenage drunk driving accident. Overall the dancing was good and most of the updated soundtrack added to the tone. I didn't enjoy the selection for Ren's 'angry dance' scene and I wished there'd been more riffs on the original.

Setting all faults aside; this is how updated remakes should be. The original movie is not lofty and neither is the remake. This film knows what it is: fluff. The remake maintains all the fun of the original while putting on a fresh coat of paint and changing up a few of the details. Plus, parts of it were so ridiculous I laughed so hard I cried. I don't think that's happened at the movies since I went to see High School Musical 3. So go! Have fun! Laugh with your friends until your sides hurt and then go out for ice cream and re-cast all your favorite '80s movies.

--KER