I have now become the auntie who makes the kids watch my favorite old movies. Now, did the kids leave us in the living room while us Millennials sat and rewatched this classic (well, two of us at least.) What I realized as I was watching this movie is that I might not have actually watched this movie as many times as I thought I had. I started to watch and was like, “Do I remember all of what happened in this original?” Spoiler alert, I did not.
Andy “Brink” Brinker is the captain of the “Soul-Skaters,” a rag-tag group of his friends who skate for the sheer joy and love of the sport. He’s also in high school, so in every high school setting, there has to be a bully. That bully is Val. Val is the captain of the Team X-Bladz, an amateur pro-team (it seems) whose members also go to the same school. Bear in mind, although Brink and his friends skate for fun, they’re actually phenomenal skaters (mainly Brink though). Suddenly (for Brink I guess), he overhears that his family is in a bit of a financial bind, and Team X-Bladz could be his way to help his family…but at what cost.
First thing’s first, I forgot Christina Vidal was in this movie. If you recall, Christina Vidal played the titular character in Nickelodeon’s “Taina.” I loved that show! Walter Jones, as we all know and loved, played Zack Taylor aka “The Black Ranger.” Katie Volding is Brink’s sister, and if you can’t place her face, I’m here to help. “Smart House.” That’s where you know her from. The mom? “Don’t Look Under the Bed.” The dad? If you’ve ever seen “Police Academy,” he’s been in literally all of them.
So here’s, what may be, an unpopular opinion. All of what happens is Brink’s fault. All Brink had to do was tell his friends that his family was in a bind and he wanted to help by joining Team X-Bladz to score some extra cash. This is not a hard thing to do. Now, did he try and tell Peter but his stepdad kept hollering for him to get off the phone? Yes, but he could have tried again. He could have told Gabriella. Gabby would have gotten it before her catching him in a lie. I also want to focus my attention on the dad. I get that the dad was old school. He wanted Brink to go to school, get an education, and make an honest man out of him. We get it. It might have been too early to try and present skateboarding as a career. But and however, the boy came home and told you that he can make $200 extra American dollars you and your wife don’t have doing what you already allow him to do with his friends. Now, did he get in trouble at school skating with those friends and the people he wants to make money with and did someone get hurt? Yes, but we all learned from that! Luckily, it all worked out in the end with dad, his job, and mom selling a house. Things started to look up but you could have just allowed him to skate and make money. Teach him responsibly.
What I love about Disney Channel Original movies in this era is that they all that real world element about them. In “Don’t Look Under the Bed,” Fran was dealing with her little brother having cancer. In “Smart House,” the family is dealing with losing their mom and that’s why the house decides to try and replace the mom. Here, the same narrative persists. What confuses me is what the goal was here for this film. Was it to encourage kids to skateboard or to deter them? Boomer hit is back and had to use crutches. Gabriella skinned her arm after skating over some gravel thrown in the street by Val. I guess you have to make it look cool, but also alert the kids that if you aren’t careful, you can get hurt.
Am I the only person who barely remembered this movie? If you remember this movie or you have a favorite part, sound off!
