Movie review: Kickin It Old Skool
What child of the 80s or even early 90s can’t help but look back favorably at the pop culture movie hits the decade of excess brought us? The Karate Kid. Pretty in Pink. Ghostbusters and Gremlins. These movies may have been cheesy and over-the-top, but in some ways they never completely lose their ability to resonate with audiences. It’s easy to look back at them over twenty years later and feel a pang of nostalgia. Twenty years from now, however, no one will look back at Kickin’ It Old Skool and think wistfully of their childhood. In fact, I’d be amazed if even two years from now anyone accidentally coming across the title in a rental store could feel anything other than a mild sense of confusion as to why Jamie Kennedy can still find work.
Kickin’ It Old Skool centers on the life of Justin Schumacher (Jamie Kennedy), a teenage breakdancer who falls off the stage and hits his head during a talent show in the 80s. The fall lands Justin in a coma for twenty years. When he finally wakes up, it is 2006 and the world is far different from the one he remembers. Now a 32 year old man who still thinks and acts like a teenager in the 80s, Justin decides to reunite his old breakdancing group The Funky Fresh Boys and enter a breakdancing competition. In addition to prize money, Justin hopes to win back the affections of his teenage-crush-turned-professional-dancer Jennifer Stone (Maria Menounos) and show up his old rival, Jennifer’s new fiancé Kip Unger (Michael Rosenbaum).
The first ten minutes or so of Kickin’ It Old Skool are entertaining. The 80s references and jokes are deceptively spot-on, raising hopes for the remainder of the film. Then it all goes to hell. The moment Justin wakes from his coma, the humor turns to cheap attempts at slapstick, sight gags, and the type of dialogue one could expect to find on an elementary school playground. The actors limp half-heartedly through their roles, not that a greater commitment could be expected in this kind of trash, and the director (Harvey Glazer) apparently didn’t even show up. The breakdancing is good, but not interesting enough to justify the rest of the film. The writing team of Trace Slobotkin, Josh Siegal, and Dylan Morgan are no replacement for John Hughes, and Kickin’ It Old Skool is no classic.
Is there anything redeeming about this failure of a film? Not much. Michael Rosenbaum (from TV’s Smallville), who is usually entertaining in anything to which he lends his hand, is saddled with some of the worst dialogue ever written. It’s actually painful to watch such a good actor struggle through the trite garbage he’s been handed. Debra Jo Rupp (from That 70s Show) is wonderful as Justin’s lovingly devoted yet overwrought mother, but her screen time is limited. Cameos by David Hasselhoff and Emmanuel Lewis are good for a few chuckles, but no more. The funniest moment in the whole film is when K.I.T.T. (the talking car from Knight Ridder) awkwardly excuses itself and drives away during Justin and Jennifer’s first date. Unfortunately, this scene is not worth watching the entire movie. Kickin’ It Old Skool did not waste two hours of my life, it murdered two hours of my life and then desecrated the remains. Stay far away from this fiasco.