by Madi Denton |

When I see a movie trailer, there are a few things that I tend to look for. It usually falls under these categories: explosions, love interests and hot boys. So when I turned on my tv to find the commercial for Red Dawn, I knew I had to see it. Then I got the chance to see an early screening premiere event in San Antonio, Texas with 500 other journalism students.

Taking place in a modern day town, Josh Peck and Chris Hemsworth must team up with other young citizens to free the country from the hands of North Korea. Being a remake of an 80s movie starring Patrick Swayze, it had large shoes to fill. While staying true to the original, the directors of Red Dawn did a splendid job of making it their own. It seemed so realistic and I felt like something such as this could happen at any moment.

The cast was perfect. The combination of Josh from “Drake and Josh” and Chris Hemsworth from Thor is not something that I could have came up with, but it was a match made in heaven. They complimented each other very well.

At first it came off slightly predictable. While I knew that I didn’t have it all figured out, I had the ending pretty planned out my head. I maintained this train of thought throughout most of the movie, up until the huge plot twist that made this movie one of my favorites.

Part of what made me love this movie so much is the fact that it didn’t look fake. Lots of times when you go to an action movie, the explosions and deaths look staged and unrealistic. With this movie, I felt like I was in it, which could be due to the fact that I got to watch in in IMAX. This feeling tended to back fire at times when there was a lot of motion, which was when I began to get a headache. Other than that, It was directed perfectly.

While the likelihood of a North Korean takeover ever happening is near impossible, it does not prevent the viewer from getting high on patriotism. It makes you question your loyalty and where you would stand in the case of an emergency such as that. I have no clue how I would react, but it definitely got me thinking. No matter who you are, you must go see this movie. It is a must see for sure.