Caffeinated Clint
Was flicking through some of the script pages for “Point Break : Indo” tonight – my producing partner’s going in for it – and thought I’d jot down my feelings for y’all here on it. I know some of the plot is already out there, but I don’t think it’s been stated where in Indonesia exactly the film is set, nor have many of the supporting characters been revealed. So here ya go.
Look, it is what it is. And what is it? Well, a big dumb action movie that’s all about entertaining not educating – not unlike the original. And yep, there’s definitely a place for such films. I’ll be checking it out, just as I did the original (remember seeing the original at a small community cinema – basically just a bunch of fold-up chairs in front of a hanging sheet – in a coastal town that we were holidaying at at the time).
A lot of the sequel is set in Kuta, Bali – yep, the overpopulated tourist spot that’s been hurt, financially and emotionally, by the terrorist bombing a couple of years back; Kuta is unlike a lot of other spots in Bali because it’s because very Americanized, there’s big shopping malls, a KFC and McDonald’s on the main street, Pizza parlors, video-game arcade and designer fashion stores – rather than the states, but for the most part, it treads similar ground to the 1991 original.
The plot sees Billy Dalton, a former star of the Special Forces and, at one stage, the pro-surfing circuit, recruited by a special task force – a guy named Billy McCoy forces him into it, otherwise he’s going to have to do time for some of the trouble he’s been getting into lately – Â to take down a bunch of criminals who are – wait for it – robbing freighters.
The ‘Bodhi’ of the group is EuroAsian slick-dick Dali, who along with his crew – Aussie surfer chick Skye, colossally Hawaiian-guy Buffalo, and a chiseled Asian with a prosthetic foot named Tay –  are suspicious of Utah, er, Dalton, from the first meet. Also part of Dali’s crew is the rogue’s sister Teela – similar to the Lori Petty character in Kathryn Bigelow’s original – who takes an instant shine to the “tourist”. She’s Dalton’s ticket to some local knowledge, as he puts it.
How does Dalton butter up Dali’s crew? Well, not by showing off his surfing technique, that’s for sure. Nope, Dali makes Dalton drop from a 160-foot bungee platform.
In-between trying to stop the crew, Dalton – of course – gets back into surfing in a big way… especially after taking on a “Big Swell” with Dali and Teela.
It’s not a bad read – but it’s very ‘been there, done that’. It doesn’t only read like “Point Break”, it reads a lot like the original “Fast and the Furious” with Dalton the Paul Walker character, Teela the Jordana Brewster character, and Dali the Vin Diesel character. In a few instances there I actually forgot that I wasn’t flicking through the stapled pages of the new Fast and Furious movie. Having said that, those movies worked – and this will no doubt too. I didn’t read any pages featuring Swayze’s character, Bodhi (rumoured to return for a cameo), so can’t say for sure whether he’s still part of the script – or whether they’ve written him out. I’d love to know – if Peter Illif, the writer of the project is reading, please drop us a line!
It sounds like they’ve already cast Dalton, but are still on the hunt for a Dali and Teela. I’m more interested in finding out who they cast as Skye, the Aussie chick – it seems tailor-made for Rachael Taylor (“Transformers”).
The film, which Jan de Bont is helming, was supposed to be filming this month but I believe, since they’re still looking for cast, that it’s been pushed back a month or so. Again, if anybody knows any more – – please sing out!
