Easy Rider: The Ride Back (2012)

Easy Rider: The Ride Back (2012). 1h 39m | R

“This creation has little to do with the style, direction or intent of the original 1969 film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt tries to explain in a rather technical and overly melodramatic way effectively how Wyatt and Billy ended up on the road in the first place. In doing that, each character is dissected and re-introduced from childhood on up, in a cinematic style that attempts to replicate some of the originalu0026#39;s fragmented and flash-back style, but canu0026#39;t quite seem to keep the energy and story direction clear enough to attain a connection to the audience of any of the characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJeff Fahey (Wes Coast) and Sheree J. Wilson (Shane Williams) are individually interesting to watch in their characteru0026#39;s depth but itu0026#39;s hard to carry a full 90 minutes on the supporting roles.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe motorcycle riding scenes are decorative more than substantive to the story (similar to what youu0026#39;d experience watching an advertisement from a manufacturer, sans a voice-over.) There are a plethora of many gorgeously restored antiques and collectibles thrown in scenes that are dropped in as just set decor, which doesnu0026#39;t portray the connection between their owners and the bikes. For a film that has a lot of biker characters, it seems odd that you never see any sweat, dirty hands, nor unpolished chrome throughout the story. Even the tires seem to get cleaned between scenes, even though being ridden on dirt back roads.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTechnically, the locations and sets were well-developed, but thereu0026#39;s very little tying those beautiful settings to what they mean to the characters (very similar to the bikes). Kind of like watching Clark Griswold having just arrived after days of driving at the edge of the Grand Canyon saying, u0026quot;Gee, nice. Hey, letu0026#39;s get going to Wally World!u0026quot; Ultimately itu0026#39;s hard to believe the development of the storyline – you are left wondering why each character went to the effort of overcoming whatever obstacle was thrown into their path by the script. They could have just turned away and had the story go in an organic direction, but instead from scene to scene, you can almost hear the actorsu0026#39; inner voices saying u0026quot;Not sure why Iu0026#39;d do or say that… but, oh well, thatu0026#39;s the way itu0026#39;s written.u0026quot; There was a LOT of time, energy and budget behind this film – thatu0026#39;s apparent from the attempt to recreate 70 years of historical time-line locations, events and settings. Perhaps it was too much trying to tie together the back stories of 10 different characters, for that span of time, leading to the iconic pair that took to the road in Easy Rider (1969). I would have preferred a trimmed-down version of the story focusing perhaps simply on the fatheru0026#39;s anger and angst, the sonu0026#39;s need to return, and the sister being caught in-between trying to understand why these polar opposites are a family, apart.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs presented, it strongly resembles a social media fan page for ER (1969) with fan-produced character fiction stories, photos and video clips posted to it, each one stating u0026quot;Hereu0026#39;s why I liked ER, and why I thought such-and-such happened.u0026quot;”