Point Break Movie Review 382

Point Break is a 1991 action/thriller movie directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves and Gary Busey.

Reeves stars as rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah who is working with his partner and veteran FBI guy Angelo Pappas(Busey) to catch a group of bank robbers called the Ex- Presidents, who wear masks of ex- US Presidents in their robberies.The thieves are very slick and they are well organised. Utah has to go undercover when they suspect that the robbers might be surfers. He wants to get some information on them, but he sticks out like a sore thumb. He meets surfer lady Tyler (Lori Petty) and tries to get her to help him to learn to surf. She reluctantly agrees after she saves him from drowning when he tries to surf alone. She introduces him to a charismatic guy called Bodhi(Swayze) who seems to be the leader of a group of surfer dudes.

The surfers wonder who this Utah is, but Bodhi realises that Johnny used to play football in college and this relaxes everyone and he is accepted. He gets in deeper with the group and finds their way of life appealing in some ways. He knows that he has to stick to his job, but it is hard to think of the guys as criminals. He has a suspicion that they are the thieves and he gets closer and closer to discovering the truth. He also grows closer to Tyler. Of course, Bodhi finds out that Johnny is not who he says when he is chased by him after a robbery attempt. Things get strange after that. Tyler finds out who he is and dumps him. He is still with the gang, but Bodhi has Tyler kidnapped and blackmails Johnny into helping them rob a bank with them. He has no choice, but it all goes wrong and one of the surfers is killed. Bodhi knocks Johnny out and leaves him there while he escapes.

Johnny and Angelo try to stop the thieves when they find out that they are taking a flight to Mexico and there is a shootout. More surfers are dead and Angelo gets shot and killed too. Only Bodhi and one of his pals are left. They force Utah onto the airplane and then they jump out with their parachutes. Johnny jumps after them and he tries to catch Bodhi, but his knee gives out from an old injury and he can't catch him. Tyler is released and Bodhi and another friend of his escape with the money leaving Bodhi's last surfer pal dead behind him. Cut to almost a year later and Utah catches up with Bodhi in Bell's Beach in Australia where a major storm is brewing. Bodhi is there to surf the ultimate waves. There is a brawl and Johnny wants to  bring Bodhi in, but he cannot when Bodhi pleads with him to let him surf the waves, knowing that this means certain death. Johnny agrees and he and the cops watch Bodhi disappear into the violent waves. Johnny tosses his FBI badge into the water and walks away.

This is a great film. I loved this when it was released and it is still as good as ever. Swayze is great as the mystical Bodhi who captivates Johnny and Reeves is entertaining as the pretty clueless Johnny Utah. There is a good cast in this movie and it is a must for all action fans. I know that there is a remake of this in cinemas at the moment, but I am not really interested in that. Watch this instead, it is a fun movie and one of my favourite  90's movies. I give it a 9/10.