THUNDERSTRUCK
PG
102 Minutes
Director: John Whitesell
Writers: Eric Champnella, Jeff Farley
Kevin Durant, Taylor Gray, James Belushi
Kevin Durant Himself
Taylor Gray Brian
James Belushi Coach Amross
BLUE CHIPS, WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP, ABOVE THE RIM , BLACK AND WHITE, SPACE JAM, HE GOT GAME, HOOSIERS, CELTIC PRIDE, BIG AND HARRY, and TEEN WOLF. What do all these basketball movies have in common?
None of them are as bad as THUNDERSTRUCK.
Brian is a 16 year-old boy who lives within the greater OKC area. While at a Thunder game, he wins a raffle, and gets a chance to shoot the basketball from half court. Brick! He misses the basket, in a most spectacular fashion, knocking the buffalo-headed mascot unconscious.
The next scene is at the funeral of the buffalo mascot. Just kidding, he doesn't die...or maybe he does. The person inside might be a replacement, you don't know.
The next day, all the kids in school make fun of him, because they always have, it goes with the territory of being a dork. This incident makes it much more difficult for him to look like one of those 'cool guys'. The type of guy Isabel Sánchez goes for. And it's too bad because he's really got a crush on her.
You know how this type of movie goes down. We've all seen ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. Well, at least I have. Brian becomes the world's greatest basketball player.
With all the success of high school basketball, he became a giant prick. His real friends abandoned him. And that Sánchez girl, she wants nothing to do with him.
Kevin Durant's agent notices the NBA baller's moves have mysteriously vanished. There's only one logical explanation: an accidental talent transfer between two people, right after that half-court shot.
The time comes to make things right. The mascot has to get hit in the head again, to reverse the talent transfer.
The only realistic part of the movie was the basketball coach. I could see Jim Belushi, the person, really coaching high school basketball. After he runs out of ACCORDING TO JIM royalties, he may have to settle down with a regular gig, and get married to someone about as attractive as he is.
THUNDERSTRUCK is a blatant rip-off of the Lil' Bow Wow movie, LIKE MIKE. Surprisingly, LIKE MIKE is not so bad. Mostly, because they used NBA players...that played basketball in the movie. In this film, we don't see nearly enough, real basketball action.
As a player, and a player of basketball, I respect Kevin Durant. There are no hard feelings, from this bitter Sonics fan. I'm just disappointed with him, and some of the decisions he's made.
Final Verdict: 24 out of 100
