Red Dawn

Way back in 1984, when John Milius first made this trashy tale of teen resistance to an invasion of the good old US of A, his choice of bad guys was obvious: the Russians (and their Cuban allies). There was still a Cold War, and many Americans genuinely feared Reds under their beds. Almost 30 years on, the world is a very different place. And this slick but unimaginative remake is implausibly forced to replace Russia as aggressor with rogue-state North Korea. The story sees furloughing US marine Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and a ragtag bunch of patriotic teens, including Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), stand between the invading Koreans and their occupation plans. It's all as daft as a brush, of course, and so gung ho it hurts. But suspend your disbelief, go with the flow, and you'll find enough whizz-bang action to sustain interest until the film runs out of puff and plot. Which it does, about two-thirds through. It may be codswallop, but it's not unentertaining.