The 2012 film, Spring Breakers, drew attention for its hyper-sexualised characters portrayed by former teen stars like Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, as well as its distinctive visual style that would become a sort of trademark of distributor A24. However, I can't say I enjoyed the film very much. It came across as all style, but no substance. The film's mediocre reviews suggest I'm not the only one who feels that way.
Over a decade later, however, TeamSkeet has released a remake of the film under the same title as the original. Given the large amount of sexual content in the original, is there much point in making a porn version?
Truth be told, although the 2023 version of Spring Breakers draws heavy inspiration from the original, the story does differ significantly. The first part of the film stars Rory Knox and Octavia Red getting ready for spring break. Somehow Rory gets stuck in her bedroom window (typical symptom of being a step-sister), and it's up to her step-bro Nathan Bronson to help her out by fingering her. Which, surprise surprise, doesn't help. That certainly didn't happen in the original. What also didn't happen in the original is them having a threesome. Well, there wasn't even a step-bro in the original, so there's that.
Rory and Octavia are joined by Jasmine Wilde (there are only three spring breakers in this version) for a scene that is a bit closer to the original. Wearing bikinis, they sing Britney Spears's "…Baby One More Time" really badly. With the help of Lucky Fate (whose role is similar to that of Alien), they break into a convenience store (filmed at Calabasas Liquor & Market) and rob gold chains from its fridges. WTF?!
To celebrate their looting, the three women get naked and start throwing cash around whilst the room is illuminated by headache inducing flashing lights. This is the closest this film gets to the visual style of the original, but it just doesn't work.
Eventually, the women are arrested and taken to the police station where we get an incredibly long and boring conversation in which officers Charles Dera and Donnie Rock chide them about breaking into the mayor's house. It just goes on and on and on.
This film is very sloppily produced. There are a number of gaffes left in, such as one of the women throwing a rucksack, which hits the camera operator, causing the screen to shake wildly. But they couldn't be bothered to redo it. Neither could they be bothered to redo a scene in which Donnie accidentally knocks over a truncheon and has to pick it off the floor. The framerate is all over the place, too.
As I said at the start, I wasn't much a fan of the original Spring Breakers, but this remake is decidedly worse. Avoid.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5