It’s a basic rule of movie making: if the props and action sequences are getting more attention than the characters or the plot, your film isn’t likely to be any good. If you are going to take that route, at least pick non-repetitive action sequences and make sure you cast actors that can pull off page after page of stilted, juvenile dialogue. Oh, and if your title ends in “: The Movie”, that ought to be raising little red flags too. They’re very simple principles but the creative (or not-so-creative, really) folks behind Supercross: The Movie must have decided their film was so incredible that the rules didn’t apply. It’s hard to tell whether the joke is on them or on the poor people who actually spend money on a ticket.
I have no doubt that the sports of motocross and supercross are exciting and I’m sure their devoted fans enjoy every minute of it. I hear that CandyLand still has a pretty great following too, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to make a good movie. Scenes of motorbike racing consume a vast amount of Supercross: The Movie’ ninety-two minutes but the excitement for this non-fanatic wore off somewhere in the first ten.
The story behind Supercross: The Movie isn’t completely shallow, and in fact, it’s kind of heart warming in an “if I weren’t so bored I’d root for you” sort of way. Apparently there are two kinds of competitors in the supercross world: those who have gaudy, arrogant corporate sponsors and those who don’t. K.C. Carlyle and his brother Trip are have-nots who scrape together a living as pool cleaners and spend every spare cent on motorbiking. Both have serious David and Goliath complexes, determined to go all the way to the top in the supercross competition one day, no matter the odds.
Of course, both guys are naturals at their sport. All they lack is cash. When K.C. falls into a corporate sponsorship that could take him to the championship, the relationship between these brothers becomes strained. Teenage angst (despite the fact that both are grown men) erupts and froths all over the remainder of the film.
I suppose it shouldn’t really be such a surprise that the movie seethes with painfully hard to watch acting. This is the second directorial effort by Steve Boyum whose other movie, Meet The Deedles, launched the career of the crown prince of pretty-boy acting, Paul Walker. Three out of the four lead cast members hail from television shows on the WB including the illustrious teensoap “One Tree Hill” (ironically enough the movie was distributed by Fox). If that isn’t enough for you, Aaron Carter’s in there too. After all, if you can sing you must be able to act too, right Britney? The only person really pulling their weight in this movie is Robert Patrick. Despite the ridiculous dialogue he’s given to work with, he manages to bring some real heart to his character. It’s a wasted effort, but it was nice to see someone at least trying to make me enjoy the movie.
Supercross: The Movie is an hour and a half of gratuitous bike racing, motocross product placements and redneck booty shots. Not since they finally stopped making Ninja Turtle movies has the word “gnarly” been uttered so many times in one film. To top it off, they actually have the gall to say that the Supercross finals in Las Vegas are bigger than the Super Bowl and World Series put together. The only things the movie gets right are its beautifully filmed racing sequences, but unless you’re a fan of the sport you’re likely to spend most of the show praying for a projector burn out.
