Thanks to GoFoBo.com, I saw a sneak preview of the remake of Footloose last night.  I never was a huge fan of the first Footloose movie, made in 1984.  Kevin Bacon dancing?  John Lithgow as the preacher?  A town that bans dancing?  It all seemed so silly, although I did like some of the songs on the soundtrack.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.  In my opinion, the recasting is much better than the first movie.  With Dennis Quaid as the preacher, Julianne Hough (from Dancing with the Stars and Country music) as his daughter, and dancer Kenny Wormald as Ren, the remake proved to be much more enjoyable.

It's interesting that the directors decided to retain so many of the key features from the original -- same music (done by different artists), exact same story line, exact same characters, even some of the same wardrobe.

Miles Teller as country boy Willard Hewitt was particularly entertaining and funny.  The best line in the movie comes when Ren is encouraging Willard to dance -- "it's country line dancing...every White boy's wet dream!"

A pleasant and overdue addition to the remake was the diversity of the cast members.  Nice to see.

Footloose opens in theaters on October 14.

Photo:  Footloose Movie Facebook Page