Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break has an unusually mystifying ending for a high-concept action movie. There are plenty of shootouts and foot chases, but the heart of the movie is its bromance. Keanu Reeves stars as Johnny Utah, an FBI agent who goes undercover in a surfing community to identify a gang of bank robbers known as the “Ex-Presidents.” Patrick Swayze plays Bodhi, the gang’s charismatic leader, who spends his loot on extreme sports like skydiving. Utah ends up being so charmed by Bodhi that he has second thoughts about bringing him in. This unique hero/villain dynamic leads to a thought-provoking ending.
Point Break was met with positive reviews, mostly praising Reeves and Swayze’s chemistry, and it connected with audiences. The movie was a box office success, and it’s since gained a cult following. The final scene of Point Break is still discussed today. After a nine-year time jump, Utah tracks down Bodhi to Bells Beach in Australia where the “50-Year Storm” has started producing deadly waves. Utah decides to let Bodhi go and throws his FBI badge into the ocean. The majority of Point Break is a pulpy popcorn action adventure, but this moment is surprisingly enigmatic. Bigelow ends Utah and Bodhi’s friendship on an ambiguous note with some unanswered questions.
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Why Did Utah Let Bodhi Go?
At the end of Point Break, when Utah finally found the elusive Bodhi hiding out in Australia, he decided not to arrest him. During the investigation, the two became close. Utah became such good friends with Bodhi that he crossed over to the other side of the law. When he had Bodhi in his sights after a lengthy foot chase, Utah couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger and shoot his friend. But he didn’t let Bodhi go at the end of the movie just because they were good friends. He went to that beach with the intention of arresting Bodhi, but he changed his mind after a brief conversation.
As Utah arrived at the beach, Bodhi begged him not to take him in. The fabled “50-Year Storm” had begun and Bodhi asked Utah to let him surf its once-in-a-lifetime waves. Utah chose not to arrest Bodhi during that rain-soaked Point Break scene and instead let him go out into the ocean, not just because it was his dream to ride those catastrophic waves, but because it was highly unlikely he would survive. Rather than force Bodhi to spend the rest of his life behind bars, Utah allowed him to go out on his own terms. This showed that, despite their differences, mutual respect still existed between Utah and Bodhi.
Did Bodhi Survive The Final Wave?
Point Break's ending leaves Bodhi’s fate ambiguous, so there’s no certainty that he survived or died in the "50-Year Storm." He doesn’t get a scenery-chewing death scene because this is much more affecting. The audience’s view of Bodhi’s final surfing stunt is the same as Utah's perspective. But, given the size and ferocity of the waves, death is the most likely outcome. Even for a surfer as experienced and daring as Bodhi, the chances of survival would be slim. Earlier in the movie, when Bodhi told Utah about this prophesied storm and described the waves it would produce, he said that surfing them would cost “the ultimate price.”
When he begged Utah to let him go into the ocean and surf the "50-Year Storm" instead of being taken into custody, Bodhi didn’t expect to come back; he knew those waves were lethal. Bodhi, with his "live fast, die young" philosophy, was a free spirit who'd rather go out doing what he loves than live in the confines of a prison cell. When he went on the run, he wasn’t trying to evade the law indefinitely; he was looking for the magnificent wave that would allow him to go out in a blaze of glory. Just as he found that wave in Australia, Utah found him.
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Why Did Utah Throw His FBI Badge In The Ocean?
After letting Bodhi go, Utah threw his FBI badge into the ocean. Tossing important government-issued identification into the ocean is a common trope in action cinema. At the end of Dirty Harry, the title character threw his police badge into a nearby lake after breaking protocol to kill the Scorpio. At the end of Top Gun, Maverick threw Goose’s dog tags into the ocean as he mourned the loss of his wingman. In Point Break, Utah throwing his FBI badge into the stormy sea was a dramatic way of quitting his job at the bureau. Of course, after letting a notorious criminal walk free, he probably would’ve been fired anyway.
Following the whole ordeal with Bodhi, Utah decided the law enforcement life wasn’t the one he wanted to live. He wasn’t cut out for that cold-hearted way of dealing with people. He learned he was too emotional and got too attached to the criminals he investigated – particularly the charming surfer/bank robber. Unlike most action heroes, Utah didn’t grow up dreaming of fighting bad guys. He was a promising college football player whose knee injury prevented the NFL career he was destined for. FBI agent was his backup career, and after taking on his first big undercover case in the world of extreme sports, he found it wasn’t for him.
Utah’s Fate Revealed By Screenwriter W. Peter Iliff
A sequel to Point Break was never produced, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Screenwriter W. Peter Iliff even tried to get a TV series off the ground that would continue the story. The show was never picked up, but Iliff has provided a few key story details revealing where Utah ended up after the events of the movie. According to the screenwriter, Utah was presumed dead and living off the grid: “Johnny Utah has been missing. His body’s not been found. He’s [been reported] dead for years. There’s a mystery around where he is, and you’re going to find out – he’s not dead” (via /Film).
The sequel series wouldn't have centered on Keanu Reeves's iconic character but instead was to be about Utah’s daughter. Iliff continued, “There’s a bigger story that evolves around [Utah’s disappearance], while [his daughter] gets involved in this eco-terrorist movement.” It’s likely that this fate was decided for Utah to accommodate the possibility that Reeves wouldn’t want to commit to a TV series. Turning Utah into a mysterious figure who’s been missing for years would have allowed Reeves’s role on the show to range from a regular recurring role to a one-off guest spot to not appearing at all.
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The Real Meaning Of Point Break’s Ending
Point Break is a great action movie – one of the genre’s most beloved entries – but part of what makes it so great is that the action isn’t its primary focus. 's heart is in its main characters' bromance, not the spectacle that surrounds them. The fact that the climatic sequence in Point Break is a heartfelt conversation between its two leads and not an explosive action set-piece solidifies this focus on friendship. The final scene reinforces the strength of this bromance. In their final confrontation, Utah and Bodhi don’t fight to the death; they talk through their issues.
Utah realized he wasn’t cut out to be an FBI agent when he had become so endeared to Bodhi that he couldn’t stand to shoot him in the midst of a chase or even arrest him when he finally managed to track him down. Even after they’d both betrayed each other and their dark secrets had been revealed, there was still a lot of love between these two characters. The final conversation between Utah and Bodhi during the first-rate climax of Point Break made it clear they still held a grudge against one another, but the brotherhood they formed when they were still on good terms will always be there.
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