Thunderstruck (2012) Reviews

• 'Thunderstruck' - Who's Got the Talent?

  rannynm2012-09-01

  We all love to root for the underdog, when he becomes top dog through a fluke rather than hard work, well, it's not so satisfying. Brian Newall, who magically acquires the talent of his hoops hero Kevin Durant (who plays himself), eventually finds he'd rather get the talent back to its rightful owner. There are plenty of laughs along the way, from Brian's klutzy ball-playing in the beginning to what KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Brianna Beaton, age 12, describes as her favorite scene, when Kevin's agent "is trying to get Kevin his talent back. He is doing all kinds of things, going from holding the basketball together with saying a message to rubbing the carpet and then finally to a stun gun." Brianna was there at the red carpet to interview cast members, including father and son actors James and Robert Belushi who share how they brought comedy from their own relationship to the script. Thunderstruck Reviewed by Brianna Beaton (See her full review on video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkfvV7swlqE) Thunderstruck, starring NBA superstar Kevin Durant, is a funny and inspirational film that is definitely enjoyable to watch. Brian Newall (Taylor Gray) is horrible at basketball. He loves the game, but he just cannot play. Brian is a very big fan of NBA superstar Kevin Durant. While at a basketball game, Brian gets a chance to meet the superstar and supposedly steals Kevin's talent. Kevin Durant, playing himself, is suddenly horrible at basketball while Brian is the new superstar on his high school team. Kevin is worthless and is on the receiving end of all the bad publicity from fans and sports commentators. Kevin's agent, Alan Garrett, (Brandon T. Jackson) goes to great lengths to try and get Kevin his talent back. I really like this film because I just love basketball. It is my favorite sport and I really get into the game. There are a lot of funny moments when Brian is playing with his team and he is showing how really klutzy he is. Coach Amross (James Belushi) and his assistant coach Dan (Robert Belushi) are too funny and will definitely keep you laughing. My favorite scene is when Alan is trying to get Kevin his talent back. He is doing all kinds of things, going from holding the basketball together with saying a message to rubbing the carpet and then finally to a stun gun. This is really funny. I also like the scene with Kevin's mom in a cheerleader's outfit. One great message in this film is that talent isn't something you get; talent is something that you earn with hard work and dedication. I recommend this film for ages 7 to 18 and anyone who loves the game of basketball. If you are a fan of Kevin Durant, then you will not want to miss this one. I give Thunderstruck four out of five stars because it's funny, has a good message and is great for the whole family to enjoy.

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• Unoriginal

  jackson-andress2013-06-18

  The plot is like a mix between Like Mike and Space Jam. It was pretty gosh darn awful. I mean a pro basketball player (Kevin Durant) gets his powers magically switched with a nerdy high school kid. It just lacks originality and creativity. Maybe an 8 year old boy would like it, but other than that, I don't think that anyone would enjoy this movie. It's predictable, slow moving, and unfunny. The only scenarios in which you should watch this movie are a) you have an 8 year old kid or b) you want to watch because it's so cheesy and bad that it's funny. All in all just try to stay away from this movie. If you want to give your 8 year old something to watch, show them Like Mike or Space Jam and not this horrible crossover.

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• Chix Chat on Film Review: Underwhelming basketball.

  EmmaDinkins2012-08-24

  Thunderstruck is yet another short guy's hoop dreams fairytale. Brian Newall (Taylor Gray) is a huge Kevin Durant fan much like me, so I was pleased with how the story focused on this amazing NBA player. I was totally pulling for the Thunder in the NBA playoffs, but alas it wasn't their time. Initially I figured that this was a Space Jam like film for this generation of young hoopsters to see a current fan favorite in a life situation other than simply on the court or I thought it might be a Like Mike kind of film. Unfortunately, it didn't have the charisma or heart of either of those two films. The funniest scenes are when Alan (Brandon T. Jackson) tries to fix "the situation" with all nature of high fives and fist pumps. But it's sad when you resort to ball on balls physical comedy for laughs. Again, I am a Kevin Durant fan and consider him one of the most talented ballers in the game today, but he and Candace Parker Williams have some serious work to do if they want to build an acting resume. It helped that Brandon T. Jackson and James Belushi (Coach Amross) are good actors but they did not make enough of a difference to balance out the poor acting. The only common factor with this film and Space Jam was Sir Charles Barkley in his current role as a TNT basketball commentator. He was as funny in this film as ever. I laughed audibly when he remarked that Shaq had been working with Kevin on his free throws. If you want to make a Space Jam or Like Mike type of movie it has to have magic, even though there was some inexplicable magic in this film it wasn't that game winning shot kind that leaves your exhilarated and satisfied with the final triumph. I did realize though that you have to have some basketball talent to make it appear that you have no basketball talent. If it were the beginning of summer and you wanted to get the kids out of the house then send them to this film for an hour and a half of peace, but since it isn't you are better off saving your dollars. This film was like a drawn out commercial for the NBA, Nike and Kevin Durant, unfortunately it was less memorable than his data plan commercial. You can see basketball on TV, you can see the TNT announcers on TV and you should really wait until this film comes to TV to see it. I give it a red light.

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• The Truth Will Set You Free

  Ed-Shullivan2013-08-05

  I will preface my review by stating this is not a religious themed movie. It is however a movie that children over the age of 10 may learn a few valuable lessons about life, truly believing in one self, and being honest with not only your self, but with people we come in contact with. One of the key messages embedded in the movie was for people not to pretend they are somebody they are not. The story evolves around a teenage boy named Brian Newell (Taylor Gray), who is a typical teenage boy who aspires to be as good as his professional basketball idol, Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant plays himself in the movie. (Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley also make cameo appearances as broadcasters in the movie.) Kevin as we know him, is an exceptional NBA basketball star, who is humble about his natural god given talent, and willing to sign everyone's autograph. During one of Kevin Durant's NBA games, Kevin witnesses young Brian failing miserably during the half time intermission trying to sink a basketball at half court. To make Brian feel a bit better about missing his once in a life time shot at being the super star everyone idolizes, Kevin unselfishly signs a basketball for Brian and explains to Brian that "hard work beats talent, when talent does not work hard", and with those words, Brian miraculously inherits Kevin's basketball abilities, and unfortunately for Kevin Durant, he inherits Brian's former lack of ability to sink a basket. The story then evolves how Brian deals with his new found (and totally unexpected) basketball talent and success with the lovely new girl in town Isabel Sanchez (Tristin Mays). This is a story of a young man "paying a good deed he received from Kevin Durant, forward". There are a few good messages for preteens and teenagers about team work, truth, and friendship, as well as being an entertaining movie for the entire family. It is well worth the watch and at least a plus 5 rating on IMDb.

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• Pretty bland and clichéd movie

  sweettops2017-08-01

  The movie is really well-made productively with a good camera and it's cool to see the NBA cooperated and thus we have actual NBA teams with actual NBA players and with the actual TNT crew. Kevin Durant himself is a very good actor in this, realistically portraying his humble attitude. And that is all the positives I have about this movie. The biggest problem about this movie is just how clichéd and generic it feels. It feels like a downed version of older and better basketball movies such as Like Mike, The Red Sneakers, Space Jam, Hoosiers, etc. It hits all of the clichés in a typical cheesy kids movie: the underdog main character has a sucky life, something crazy happens that changes his life for the better (in this case the main character Brian gets Kevin Durant's basketball talent and now he plays insanely good basketball), the main character initially basks in all the fame and love he is getting, but then realizes the success is getting to his head and decides to return things back to normal. It even ends with a basketball game in which Brian's team wins on a last-second shot, but this is even worse than other versions because it's even more uninspiring than others. Somehow Brain magically gets the team to play better in the 4th quarter just by telling basic basketball advice to his teammates, and even though Brian sucked all game and should suck without KD's talent, he hits a game-winning shot. Can't get anymore cliché than that. The characters feel one-dimensional, and the movie doesn't even try to make you sympathize with or root for anyone. You won't feel bad for Brian or KD while he doesn't have his talent once. There's this generic new girl character (Isabel) who is impressed with Brian's basketball skills but then when she realizes his success is getting to his head she claims that basketball is not how she noticed Brian (even though it clearly WAS basketball when Isabel started to be with Brian). The humor mostly relies on these simple and basic jokes instead of something more creative. And while KD has some good acting, I can't quite say the same for the most of the rest of the cast. Brian's actor is no fun, Isabel's just generic, and mostly everyone else is just there to act out some jokes. Definitely wouldn't recommend, while 8-10 year olds may enjoy this there are still better basketball movies that you would rather see instead.

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