The Skateboard Kid II

Shoddy special effects combine with a shoddy story about a kid who gets a magical skateboard that can - get this - FLY! A horrible attempt at children's entertainment turns into a giant promo for skateboards, horrible actors and the whole nine yards (not the film, I mean the expression). Two thumbs down!

0/5 stars -

John Ulmer

It's a kid's movie I know. So if it's corny and junk like that, I shouldn't get all fussy about it 'cause it's just meant to entertain some kids, right? I think that even for little kids, this movie is far too cheesy.

The Skateboard Kid is this little kid who sends away for a skateboard. It turns out to be a magic skateboard, one that let's him fly. He's able to show up the neighborhood gang of skating big shots--kids who are just a little older than him. The skateboard let's him do things that he couldn't do by himself. So, even though he is a novice, he is able to accomplish things that only the pro's could do. This leads to an opportunity to compete. And, if you know corny kids movie, you know that even though some magic or some kind of special mentor helped him to get to one point, it would be up to him to get the rest of the way. Except, that might be plausible if the kid was actually doing tricks that would seem fitting for his expertise, even if it was a little m more than you would assume could be done.

Here, in this balogna movie, this kid starts out on some homemade stick and attempt to jump a quarter pipe launch ramp. Some people can't even balance themselves on a regular board, nevermind a piece of chopped up lumber with no kicktails. Then, when he gets the magic board, Stardust, it allows him to do pro-material, tearing up half-pipes and everything. And, at the end, when the Stardust board doesn't work anymore, and he's back to a regular board, he doesn't just have confidence to skate well in front of the older, more aggressive kids. No way, now he can skate just like a pro. Maybe the movie should've been entitled--how to skate like a pro without ever really trying.

It's hard to fish out that building-character premise that is so cliche of most kids movies due to such an implausible feat. I know it's supposed to be about a magic skateboard and all of that, but for crying out loud.

Aside from that point that annoyed me most about this movie, I guess the story and acting are no more corny than most other kids movies. The kids stink it up a little bit, especially the bully kid. Overall, I'd say that this movie is just cheese city.

It's been years since the Curtis family lost their husband and father Raymond in a flying accident as part of his job as a pilot. His son, Sammy, misses him and works on model planes with his friend Mickey until, that is, he sees some boys on a skateboard and gets himself a new hobby. After hurting himself he is ready to give up when he gets a mysterious package from a man called Zeno – a skateboard with mysterious powers. Sammy enters a skateboard contest using the power of the board; meanwhile his mother struggles to pay the mortgage and faces losing the house.

Not having seen the original Skateboard Kid film I'm not sure if there is a connection between the two or if they are two pretty separate stories doing basically the same thing. Anyway, the plot here sees Sammy getting a board that talks like KITT from a man who could not possibly be relating in any way to his dead father. Needless to say, with the house on the line and big money available for the winner of a skateboarding contest, Sammy steps up – although I won't spoiling it by saying whether or not he wins or learns to find his inner strength! I don't want to judge this by adult standards but, in the same regard, I don't believe that a kids film can be cr*p just because it is aimed at kids. Sadly that is the case here, the film seems to be entirely based on the skateboarding craze and the rest of the plot has been hacked off from a million other films – it really is that generic!

The plot is dumb and it knows it – it never knows when to stop with an idea and to keep good taste, instead it adds bad idea to bad idea and just gets increasingly stupid. This is aimed too high for young children and I doubt very much if 7-11 year olds would accept this as their entertainment for the evening. Baring in mind that this was made in the mid 1990's, the effects are hilariously bad – I know the budget must not have been much but surely it could do better than this rubbish. The skateboarding action is pretty average as well, there are few good moves and most of it is basic stuff. The funniest thing in the film is Sammy skateboarding – his body double is at least 20 and must be about a foot and a half taller than him, the change over between the two is obvious and is so badly handled as to be hilarious.

On top of that, the acting is roundly bad. The kids are all cute 'gee wiz, mom' style performances are felt like nails being dragged over a board for most of the time. Wallace-Stone is suited to this type of film and she is as wholesome and non-sexual as she often is. Support is OK from Davidson but mostly the cast are all pretty poor. Director Stevens gives himself a role and all I can say is that I hope he doesn't still have his hair like that. In fairness it was nice to see him, he has had a very varied career considering that this is on his CV!.

Overall this is a bad film with little to recommend in it. The production values are very low, giving rise to many clunky effects and share lazy errors, the acting is poor even for a kids movie and the story is corny and obvious from the very start. I know this is a kids movie but that does not excuse it being bad. This was aimed at the older kid market of preteens – if you tried to get the 10 year olds I know to watch this rubbish it would spark a riot.

From the start the dad figure is a fighter pilot teaching his young son car mechanics, only to die off-screen and the said car be towed away for money to cover the bills. The film's sound levels are a bit off with the background music being sometime louder than the speaking voices, likewise with the film's pacing for the time.

That kitchen food fight scene was nice, shame they didn't dwell on it longer and use some pop music, would've made a nice starting point for this film instead of the usually 'parent died' trope... A Superman-style dream sequence follows, then onto our main character's introduction to the skating scene; that awe-inspiring moment of 'I need one'.

From there on out we get the lovely 'If we can't buy one, we'll build it!' skateboard scene. Was funny seeing a young kid stealing nail polish from his older sister with a fishing rod - just to paint their board. We've all been there growing up, making due with what we have... Gotta admire the guts of first-time skaters who send it on their first try too.

Lol, strange skateboard magazine arrives by rocket (off-screen) and your first impression is to send them money for a skateboard? Didn't see that one coming! (Especially the part where your payment letter randomly flies away; like it's remote controlled or magnetic?) Then the rush you get from a skateboard delivery! (Great times) Surprise surprise, what arrives isn't what you expected so this kid decides to travel into an abandoned warehouse to get some answers/return the package? Scene feels like something out of the X-files!

Back to the skater peers and the camera man is jumping out of the way as they do tricks over a small ramp, very Wayne's World-style zoom camera... Not to sure about the industrial rock/funk rap music at this point. Later on, the magical skateboard comes to life and features some quite impressive lighting within the skateboard deck. Find it really weird how two people get head injuries despite wearing a full-faced motorcycle and fraction helmets though?

This is one of those films that's a slow starter, could do with cutting out a few filler scenes, falls more into the moral story kind of skater film; in which it's all about learning to trust people, improve your confidence, the usual growing-up film tropes. Bearing in mind the target audience, it's a nice effort as some skater films can be somewhat too mature for younger kids. (Could do with skipping the cringe-worth relationship scenes though...)

I've heard a lot of people say this movie was cheesy or corny or whatever. It's a kid's movie! It's gonna be corny at some parts! I saw this movie first time aged eight. I still love it! It's totally awesome. Totally unrealistic, but movies aren't supposed to be realistic. I do think though, that you have to like skateboarding to like this movie. Call it inspiration to a kid who can't skate. It's a cool movie though, and if you're not over...say, 12-13, you should definitely watch it. Heck, watch it anyway! What kid doesn't love to dream the impossible plausible? I know I'll get a lot of criticism for this comment, but if you're not looking for an award winning movie with a way mature plot, then The Skateboard Kid 2 is definitely a good movie. Way better than Skateboard Kid 1, kind of like an early version of Airborne if you've seen that. See it if you haven't. Call me on it if you regret it.