This reimagining of the exciting 1994 white water rafting crime/thriller of the same name, seemed to arrive out of nowhere. It's not a movie I think anyone expected to be "remade." It's strange that it released right at the 29th anniversary of the original. It perhaps would have made more sense to release it a year later on the 30th anniversary. Regardless, when I saw it pop up on Netflix, I hardly hesitated to jump in. I'm a big fan of the original, and I knew it would be ridiculous to expect this movie to be as good as that one. I was hopeful for an entertaining enough experience, but was prepared for a complete cheesefest. Turns out, I was pleasantly surprised by how much this movie worked. Everything about it, from the cast to the action sequences to the story itself, is smaller scale than the 1994 film, yet I was put on edge. It'a got great tension!
Sure, there's at least a couple of moments where it's unrealistic and the characters are frustratingly dumb, but if you allow yourself to look past that, it's not hard to get pulled into the current of this story for an entertaining ride. Remakes get a bad rap, and I'm sure there will be those who express their opinion that this remake was unnecessary, but I think it hit the mark it was aiming at. I can't complain about it too much because I literally stated at the end of my review for the original film, that we needed some new white water rafting thrillers made, and here we've got one! I would have preferred an original movie over a remake, but this movie is very different from the other, so it works as its own thing. A matter of fact, don't try to compare the two movies when watching this one. Just enjoy it for what it is. It's a nice and short little thriller that's nothing special, but it's surprisingly easy to watch.
Sure, there's at least a couple of moments where it's unrealistic and the characters are frustratingly dumb, but if you allow yourself to look past that, it's not hard to get pulled into the current of this story for an entertaining ride. Remakes get a bad rap, and I'm sure there will be those who express their opinion that this remake was unnecessary, but I think it hit the mark it was aiming at. I can't complain about it too much because I literally stated at the end of my review for the original film, that we needed some new white water rafting thrillers made, and here we've got one! I would have preferred an original movie over a remake, but this movie is very different from the other, so it works as its own thing. A matter of fact, don't try to compare the two movies when watching this one. Just enjoy it for what it is. It's a nice and short little thriller that's nothing special, but it's surprisingly easy to watch.