Footloose

The long list of pointless remakes expands by one to include Footloose, a lively yet very faithful retelling of the 1984 box-office hit about kids’ rights to dance.

There’s no attempt to tell a new story or even to update the original beyond a few superficial details. It’s another case in which originality takes a backseat to a cash grab, presumably targeted to a new generation that hasn’t seen the first ode to teenage rebellion because it’s not available on Blu-Ray.

Kenny Wormald takes the Kevin Bacon role of Ren, a hard-edged Boston kid who moves in with relatives in the small Georgia town of Bomont, which is still recovering from a tragedy that inspired the passage of several rules about teenage behavior, among them a dance ban. So Ren develops a reputation as a bad boy, even dating the daughter (Julianne Hough) of the local preacher (Dennis Quaid) before he and nerdy best friend Willard (Miles Teller) try to compromise by changing the system so his classmates can hold a traditional dance.

Director Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow), who also wrote the script, is obviously a fan of the first film. He even includes the original film’s songs (Kenny Loggins’ voice does make an appearance in the opening sequence) and even the yellow Beetle car, presumably as some sort of nostalgic tribute.

Give the film credit for broadening its musical horizons to include several genres. The title song also was remade by country star Blake Shelton, while the soundtrack also includes hip-hop and rock numbers. The other No. 1 pop hit from the first film, “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” also can be heard in both original and updated versions.

The film takes the expected halfhearted stances on conservative Southern politics and the separation between church and state, but hardly enough to get anyone too riled up.

Anything of substance in the plot would detract from the dancing, which is the highlight. Brewer, in conjunction with choreographer Jamal Sims, stage some spirited musical numbers, especially a line-dance scene in a Western club and the comic montage in which Willard learns his dance moves.

As with the original film, it’s useless to stop and consider the logic behind it all. But in this case, it’s not just about what happens on-screen, but why it was all done in the first place. It’s doubtful quite as many folks will kick off their Sunday shoes this time around.

Rated PG-13, 113 minutes.