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...)
