A typical fish out of water story.....
The young hip SoCal surfer kid named Mitchell (Shane McDermott) gets moved, against his will of course to land locked Cincinnati, Ohio where his geeky cousin Wiley (Seth Green) lives. Wiley an outsider himself in a way tries to show his SoCal cousin the ropes at his hockey crazy high school.
The set up of the movie is really lame. Somehow just a few days in town the Surfer kid ends up in a big Ice Hockey game (also against his will) and mistakenly scores a goal for the other team. So of course the hockey jocks of the school now want to make his life miserable and start a series of endless pranks. As a life-long hockey fan I was repulsed by what the movie called "hockey" ....It was a pathetic attempt at comedy I guess, but not really funny at all. I suppose it was sort of funny watching Jack Black play goal and fall down a few times but beyond that it was all pretty lame....
The movie really changes as soon as a dejected Mitchell comes home from another miserable day a school, and gets a package in the mail. The package contain his beloved Roller Blades and soon Mitchell is out on the town doing tricks on the streets, making friends on BMX bikes, skateboards and roller blades.
Once that switch is thrown on the movie the fun really starts. Mitchell starts to build a friendship with a local girl Nikki, played very well by the adorable Brittney Powell. And he starts to feel good about himself for the first time since leaving the beach.
Shane McDermott has since retired from acting, but this was probably his best performance. And make no mistake he was quite good in the movie. He plays the cool SoCal surfer kid well, and he manages quite a few dynamic character swings with relative ease. It makes you wonder why he gave up the ghost so easily on his career, he is a talented actor. He holds his own in a movie filled with fun characters by such current superstars as Seth Green and Jack Black.
This was the first movie I ever saw Jack Black in, and it was apparent right away that he was going to be a star. His natural character was just so apparent. And of course Seth Green is always good.
Alanna Ubach is also in the film, and although she is not yet a household name, she will be eventually. She has been a secondary player in many great movies including Legally Blond. And she is a very good actor.
Eventually the tough guys from the opposing hockey team pick a fight with Mitchell and his refusal to fight makes people think he is a wuss. But he tries to prove he is just peaceful. Then he learns that the girl he was courting, Nikki, is big jock hockey player's sister, who also wants to fight him. When Mitchell's pacifist ways make it look like he does not care, people pull away from him. Even his cousin Wiley is disappointed that he would not fight. But Mitchell is not a wimp, he is misunderstood, which is explained as a foreshadow story he tells Nikki at a hockey game when they first meet.
Eventually a dream compels Mitchell to chase after Nikki in spite of the fact she tells him to leave her alone, and in spite of the fact her large brother wants to kill him. But Mitchell fights back with some great play in a roller hockey game, and series of pranks against the opposing hockey team. His school hockey players figure him out and invite him to skate in an dangerous roller blade race, in traffic down a series of hills...... Of course he does and helps them win the big race and all his happy in the end.
While the hockey scenes are pretty lame as far as realism goes, the roller blade stunts are quite good. Nothing supernatural takes place, although some excellent stunts were pulled off. There is no CGI in this one, just old school stuntmen. The illegal street race that the entire movie leads up to is well done and accurately portrayed.
Like a million movies before it, Airborne does nothing special, or even original. But it does have fun along the way, and the actors do pretty well with what limited story they had. It also sends a positive message that restraint can be cool. And that maybe fighting is not always the answer.
The movie is just some fun mindless entertainment, with some good actors sprinkled through.
The young hip SoCal surfer kid named Mitchell (Shane McDermott) gets moved, against his will of course to land locked Cincinnati, Ohio where his geeky cousin Wiley (Seth Green) lives. Wiley an outsider himself in a way tries to show his SoCal cousin the ropes at his hockey crazy high school.
The set up of the movie is really lame. Somehow just a few days in town the Surfer kid ends up in a big Ice Hockey game (also against his will) and mistakenly scores a goal for the other team. So of course the hockey jocks of the school now want to make his life miserable and start a series of endless pranks. As a life-long hockey fan I was repulsed by what the movie called "hockey" ....It was a pathetic attempt at comedy I guess, but not really funny at all. I suppose it was sort of funny watching Jack Black play goal and fall down a few times but beyond that it was all pretty lame....
The movie really changes as soon as a dejected Mitchell comes home from another miserable day a school, and gets a package in the mail. The package contain his beloved Roller Blades and soon Mitchell is out on the town doing tricks on the streets, making friends on BMX bikes, skateboards and roller blades.
Once that switch is thrown on the movie the fun really starts. Mitchell starts to build a friendship with a local girl Nikki, played very well by the adorable Brittney Powell. And he starts to feel good about himself for the first time since leaving the beach.
Shane McDermott has since retired from acting, but this was probably his best performance. And make no mistake he was quite good in the movie. He plays the cool SoCal surfer kid well, and he manages quite a few dynamic character swings with relative ease. It makes you wonder why he gave up the ghost so easily on his career, he is a talented actor. He holds his own in a movie filled with fun characters by such current superstars as Seth Green and Jack Black.
This was the first movie I ever saw Jack Black in, and it was apparent right away that he was going to be a star. His natural character was just so apparent. And of course Seth Green is always good.
Alanna Ubach is also in the film, and although she is not yet a household name, she will be eventually. She has been a secondary player in many great movies including Legally Blond. And she is a very good actor.
Eventually the tough guys from the opposing hockey team pick a fight with Mitchell and his refusal to fight makes people think he is a wuss. But he tries to prove he is just peaceful. Then he learns that the girl he was courting, Nikki, is big jock hockey player's sister, who also wants to fight him. When Mitchell's pacifist ways make it look like he does not care, people pull away from him. Even his cousin Wiley is disappointed that he would not fight. But Mitchell is not a wimp, he is misunderstood, which is explained as a foreshadow story he tells Nikki at a hockey game when they first meet.
Eventually a dream compels Mitchell to chase after Nikki in spite of the fact she tells him to leave her alone, and in spite of the fact her large brother wants to kill him. But Mitchell fights back with some great play in a roller hockey game, and series of pranks against the opposing hockey team. His school hockey players figure him out and invite him to skate in an dangerous roller blade race, in traffic down a series of hills...... Of course he does and helps them win the big race and all his happy in the end.
While the hockey scenes are pretty lame as far as realism goes, the roller blade stunts are quite good. Nothing supernatural takes place, although some excellent stunts were pulled off. There is no CGI in this one, just old school stuntmen. The illegal street race that the entire movie leads up to is well done and accurately portrayed.
Like a million movies before it, Airborne does nothing special, or even original. But it does have fun along the way, and the actors do pretty well with what limited story they had. It also sends a positive message that restraint can be cool. And that maybe fighting is not always the answer.
The movie is just some fun mindless entertainment, with some good actors sprinkled through.