Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board (2007) Reviews

• Back On The Pipeline

  bkoganbing2007-06-11

  Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is a sequel to an old Disney channel film Johnny Tsunami from a few years ago. The lead Brandon Baker has grown considerably and really didn't convince me as a 17 year old. I'm not sure how it would have hurt the plot to have Baker be his real age of 22. Still the film is pleasant to watch because it does carry over the main theme of the first film, the bond between young Johnny and his grandfather, a legendary Hawaiian surfer known as Johnny Tsunami. As I did in the first film, I did enjoy the scenes between Brandon Baker and his grandfather Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. They had me convinced they really were blood relations. It's a Disney channel film so don't expect anything terribly profound or dramatic. Grandpa is getting married to a young widow and she's bringing an adolescent played by Jake T. Austin into the marriage. They have issues to resolve, the sort of ones you would find in a Disney production. Of course they all get resolved in the end, still it's a pleasant enough film with nice New Zealand locations substituting for Hawaii. Can't go wrong there.

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• The Wheel

  tedg2007-07-09

  Erle Stanley Gardner found a formula that worked. He subsequently built what he called a "fiction factory," to manufacture copies based on that formula. It featured a sort of circular slide rule that in various spins could and did produce scores of books. Disney's cable property does this now. The formula is simple: find yourself and at the same time (usually) reconcile some problem with a relationship with your parents. The spin of the wheel this time has dirt skateboards and Hawaii. Nothing else differs from the formula. It must be hell to have airtime to fill, and unrelenting obligation. Its yet another reason you won't find much worth watching on TeeVee. This time the mom is a redhead, an artifact of a different Disney story factory. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

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• A Decent sequel to a 7-year old movie

  Perro__2007-06-14

  When a month ago I heard that the original Disney channel movie Johnny Tsunami(1998) was returning with a sequel, I was psyched. The original was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and to put it easily enough, I was excited to see an update. Now, when the movie begins, we immediately reacquaint ourselves with Johnny Kapahala, now 17 and back in Hawaii to visit his famous virtuoso surfer Grandfather, whose getting married. Now at the start of the movie, I got a little confused at first. Johnny meets up with a friend who I had no clue was suppose to be Sam from the first Johnny Tsunami. Yeah, Lil' J replaces Lee Thompson Young from the first movie. Now, in the first movie, Young played Sam Sterling, a snowboarder Johnny meets in Vermont, who shows him the ropes and what not. I thought he was the coolest character back then. Now 7 years later, his character seems to have faded, along with his look, which isn't Lee Thompson Young's fault. Lil' J doesn't look anything like Lee Thompson Young, and he doesn't even pull his character off good at all. I thought it was kind of funny how when Johnny and him meet up again, Johnny doesn't even try to make a good attempt at being overjoyed by seeing him again. It was like Bradon Baker was saying to himself, "Yeah, that's not Sam". Simply enough, I think Young reprising his role would have definitely been better, and a note to any director or whatever making a sequel to a movie series: If you can't get the actor to play as the character from the previous movie, don't add the character in the script! Or at least find someone who looks like the guy! Thankfully, Sam's role is very small in the movie, so I don't care. The plot of the movie revolves around Johnny going back to Hawaii preparing for his Grandfather's wedding, and learning he has an uncle, whose 12. Yeah, the next annoying character in the movie is Chris, Johnny's 12-year old uncle. Chris is a misguided pre-teen generally getting into the wrong crowd, and Johnny's there to veer him away from that. You'd think that since they're back in Hawaii, surfing would be the main sport in the movie. Whelp, it's not, it's dirt boarding, which is a welcome change, as it shows how interesting and fast-paced the sport can be. All in all, Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board showed me my childhood is dying quickly, but is a decent sequel, even through it's shortcomings. 6/10

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• A surprising descent sequel.

  brian-valovcin2007-06-08

  Johny is back and better then ever in this wonderful sequel to the hit Original Disney Channel movie, Johny Tsunami. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board picks up a few years later as we see the little boy that we have learned to love has become more mature. The story is nothing great but it surprised me as a pretty interesting story line for a sequel to a movie that came out in 1999. The amount of drama that has been put into the movie makes you actually care what happens to the characters. But it's not all slow and touching drama. The dirt boarding and other extreme moments is what really makes this movie shine. All the stunts look very real, and makes you think that you could do it. When the action gets going, it never stops. The energy you get from viewing such events gives you a certain rush. Simply there's nothing like it in it's kind. Disney played the safe card and produced a solid sequel which has its moments. A definite see, for anybody interested in extreme action or anyone who are fans of tho old Johny Tsunami. This will deffently not ruin the first film, if anything, it will revive the Johny Tsunami legacy for all you old fans out there.

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• Horrible

  janeg492007-08-09

  I HATE Disney movies about Hawaii. The only exception to that was Lilo & Stitch, where our culture, people, and life were paid attention to with great detail. My parents and I watched the entire movie, struggling to figure out where any of the locations were. And you know what? We hardly recognized ANYTHING. The North Shore (which is on Oahu) and its famous waves were nowhere to be found, and nothing even looked remotely close to the North Shore. And another thing I loved was that most of the characters were white. I am not being racist or discriminatory or anything, but I didn't see more than 3 'local-looking' people at all. I also don't know of much people who dirtboard here, so I have no idea why it was such a big focus of the film. I know I know, people don't watch Disney movies for accurate descriptions of lifestyles in places outside of California. It's just annoying how they continue to do it. And by the way, we don't say 'brah' at the end of every sentence.

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