Of course it's not the worst movie ever made but this still remains a
very uninspired and underwhelming attempt at a sports comedy/kids
movie/body switch type of flick.
They don't exactly switch bodies in this movie but rather talents. An 16-year old ends up with Kevin Durant's basketball skills, thanks to touching a magic basketball and saying magic words and electricity and whatever more. It doesn't really matter, since it doesn't really make any sense and it doesn't ever gets explained. You just sort of have to go along with it, or else this is obviously no the right type of movie for you to watch.
It's disappointing how much originality and creativity really got put into this movie really. It doesn't come up with anything new and the whole way the story progresses is extremely predictable.
Besides, it hardly ever develops anything. Character remain underdeveloped, relationships remain underdeveloped, plot lines remain underdeveloped. Every time you think something potentially interesting is going to happen, the movie completely abandons it and goes for something more safe, formulaic and fluffy instead.
Guess the movie indeed is trying to be too cute and doesn't allow any decent drama to ever develop. None of the characters really have any problems in this movie, or go through some life changing experiences. I don't even really know if this movie was trying to send out a message or anything but I can only assume it still tried, seeing how this is a kids movie. These type of movies always tend to have some sort of message in it, such as; don't give up on your dreams. Or when you train hard, you can accomplish anything you want. But I just don't know what's with this movie. It actually sends out some bad message, more than anything else really, if you would ask me. It's as if the movie is telling kids they can only be popular and hang around with the cool kids, as long as you're good at sports. If not, you're with the nerds, playing Dungeons & Dragons at the school cafeteria and have you other fellow schoolmates laughing- and making fun of you. I don't know, perhaps I'm taking things a bit too far and take this movie a tad bit too serious but simple fact remains that I just couldn't really find any good positive- or inspiring messages in it.
And I normally really do like sports movies and can even appreciate the bad ones. There is however nothing uplifting, spectacular or tense about the sports moments in this movie. It's not necessarily due to the way it got shot and put together but it's more all due to the buildup, which just isn't present at all. It's not like the movie is ever building up to one big or important game. Well, actually it is but the problem is that you don't ever know this when watching the movie. It's a sports movie, without ever really being about the sports really, which is an odd thing to note, seeing how much basketball is actually still being played in it and what a key part it plays in the movie.
And Kevin Durant, well, I wish him good luck with his acting career but I highly doubt he'll ever break through as an actor. He just has absolutely no charisma as an actor and besides, it never really looked to me like he was enjoying himself. I have to say that even Shaquille O'Neal in his small cameo had far more charisma and was way more fun to watch! And you know you are in trouble when the highlight of your movie is James Belushi as the coach and also the best comedy has to come from him and his son Robert Belushi, who's playing his assistant.
Perhaps not as bad as its current reputation but it's obviously still a bad movie to watch!
4/10
They don't exactly switch bodies in this movie but rather talents. An 16-year old ends up with Kevin Durant's basketball skills, thanks to touching a magic basketball and saying magic words and electricity and whatever more. It doesn't really matter, since it doesn't really make any sense and it doesn't ever gets explained. You just sort of have to go along with it, or else this is obviously no the right type of movie for you to watch.
It's disappointing how much originality and creativity really got put into this movie really. It doesn't come up with anything new and the whole way the story progresses is extremely predictable.
Besides, it hardly ever develops anything. Character remain underdeveloped, relationships remain underdeveloped, plot lines remain underdeveloped. Every time you think something potentially interesting is going to happen, the movie completely abandons it and goes for something more safe, formulaic and fluffy instead.
Guess the movie indeed is trying to be too cute and doesn't allow any decent drama to ever develop. None of the characters really have any problems in this movie, or go through some life changing experiences. I don't even really know if this movie was trying to send out a message or anything but I can only assume it still tried, seeing how this is a kids movie. These type of movies always tend to have some sort of message in it, such as; don't give up on your dreams. Or when you train hard, you can accomplish anything you want. But I just don't know what's with this movie. It actually sends out some bad message, more than anything else really, if you would ask me. It's as if the movie is telling kids they can only be popular and hang around with the cool kids, as long as you're good at sports. If not, you're with the nerds, playing Dungeons & Dragons at the school cafeteria and have you other fellow schoolmates laughing- and making fun of you. I don't know, perhaps I'm taking things a bit too far and take this movie a tad bit too serious but simple fact remains that I just couldn't really find any good positive- or inspiring messages in it.
And I normally really do like sports movies and can even appreciate the bad ones. There is however nothing uplifting, spectacular or tense about the sports moments in this movie. It's not necessarily due to the way it got shot and put together but it's more all due to the buildup, which just isn't present at all. It's not like the movie is ever building up to one big or important game. Well, actually it is but the problem is that you don't ever know this when watching the movie. It's a sports movie, without ever really being about the sports really, which is an odd thing to note, seeing how much basketball is actually still being played in it and what a key part it plays in the movie.
And Kevin Durant, well, I wish him good luck with his acting career but I highly doubt he'll ever break through as an actor. He just has absolutely no charisma as an actor and besides, it never really looked to me like he was enjoying himself. I have to say that even Shaquille O'Neal in his small cameo had far more charisma and was way more fun to watch! And you know you are in trouble when the highlight of your movie is James Belushi as the coach and also the best comedy has to come from him and his son Robert Belushi, who's playing his assistant.
Perhaps not as bad as its current reputation but it's obviously still a bad movie to watch!
4/10
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