“Break Dancing Isn’t Dead – It’s Been in a Coma”
Jaime Kennedy did some funny stuff before, but it hasn’t translated to the silver screen this time. Here he plays a man-child who awakens from a coma and finds that he’s got a 1986 sensibility in a 2006 world.
Justin is competing in a break dancing competition in his school’s talent show when he tries a movie and plummets off the stage and ends up in a coma. Cut forward 20 years, and Justin (Jaime Kennedy) has been on life support in the hospital and has nearly bankrupted his parents (Christopher McDonald and Debra Jo Rupp). They’re going to pull the plug when Justin comes out of his coma.
He finds that he’s stuck in the 80s and a thirteen year olds mentality while the world has moved on. Jen (Maria Menounos), the girl Justin had a crush on, is now all grown up and engaged to Kip (Michael Rosenbaum), Justin’s old enemy. Justin decides to get the money to pay back his parents he’ll have to enter a dancing competition sponsored by Kip’s television show.
To do that he’ll have to get his break dancing crew, The Funky Fresh Boyz, back together. However, Darnell (Miguel A. Nunez, Jr.), Hector (Aris Alvarado), and Aki (Bobby Lee) have grown older, fatter, and lost their breakin’ spirit.
I’ve seen Jaime Kennedy do some funny stuff but that’s been mostly confined to television and the Scream movies. I had hope for the film since it would have 80s references galore, and it doesn’t disappoint on that level, but where it lets you down is in the performance of the main character.
I thought that Kennedy just acted retarded for the most part and that really didn’t endure his character to me at all. In fact, there’s a large portion of the big competition where his character is off screen and I seemed to like the movie better. Everything seems to come together all too conveniently.
Such as Justin having 80s clothes that happen to fit his adult body. Can you still find parachute pants at your local mart? In typical movie fashion all the players from Justin’s past are still around and he gets to make up for lost time. The problem is that Justin is such a doof, as played by Kennedy, that you really don’t care if he makes it or not. Watch for cameos from Emmanuel Lewis (eerily looking exactly the same) and David Hasselhoff.
Kickin It Old Skool is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include 29 minutes of deleted scenes and the film’s 2-minute theatrical trailer.
I found Kickin It Old Skool to be a premise that had potential but turned into an unfunny movie. Not even wearing parachute pants while watching it will make it more palatable. I think maybe that Justin might’ve been happier if he had stayed in his coma. I know I would’ve been happier if he had.
Kickin It Old Skool is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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