"Footloose" in he Land of Needless Movie-Remakes

Today I will be reviewing the remake of Footloose.  I picked Celebration Bouquet as the fractal "cookie" mainly because there wasn't an obvious choice that jumped out and me and the movie pretty much ends with a prom.  Yes, the link is, at best, tenuous but in this case it's all I've got.
-
Movie remakes are a long-standing Hollywood tradition--I'm not sure why.  Usually the real "greats" (titles like Gone With The Wind or The Wizard of Oz--two oldies but goodies) seldom get tagged.  Footloose did well enough the first time out (and the soundtrack album sold very well) but didn't do so well as a Broadway musical.  I'm not sure why they felt the need for a movie remake: maybe the Producers were looking for something they could do on the cheap--at least that's what the end result looks like.
-
Fans of the original version of Footloose are going to find a lot to like about the re-make.  The plot gets a bit of an expansion but a lot of the current version is a shot-for-shot copy of the original--same dialog, same camera angles--I wouldn't be surprised to find out even the same clothing was used.  Several songs from the original make the transition (some in their original versions--some new, but frankly weaker, versions).  At least the new version offers us a glimpse of why the town of Bomont (moved from the Midwest to the Deep South--and the folks in the South obviously can't spell Beaumont!) and that helped answer a few questions.  Some might find the language a bit rough: I know I was certainly surprised to see how much they got away with and still managing a PG-13 rating (but the "F Bomb" was never dropped.).  There are more holes in the plot than a good Swiss Cheese so folks like me will have points to pick at.  All that being said, this is a pretty standard musical at heart so you can forgive that.
-
Kenny Wermald gets the role Kevin Bacon role and manages to carry off the Boston accent (at least most of the time).  He's a good dancer and he manages to (mostly) commit to the role: (I only saw him grimacing a few times).  Juliane Hough gets the role "Preacher's Kid" Ariel: we already know she can move--thanks to all those years on Dancing With The Stars--but who knew she could cuss like a sailor so convincingly?  Dennis Quaid--a real Southerner (unlike John Lithgow in the original)--gets the thankless role as the town Minister.  New character Ray McKinnon adds a sens of verisimilitude in his role as Ren's Uncle Wes.  The rest of the cast does the best they can with their sketchily-drawn, black-and-white cardboard roles--and who knew so many of these kids were such darn good dancers?
-
Footloose is a complete, check-your-bran-at-the-door, sit-back-and-relax movie.  Taken for what it is (a "new wave" movie musical) the movie is pretty good.  Yes, you can complain about the too-many copycat scenes but it's fun to see how they manage to bring so many things get translated from the old to the new version.  If you're going to hate on it for what it isn't you probably wouldn't go see the movie in the first place.
-
FINAL GRADE: B