Designed to capitalize on the popularity of rollerblading, AIRBORNE strings together unmemorable rollerblading sequences with a cliche-ridden story about a teen outsider who must prove himself at the sport to win a girl's heart.
15-year-old Mitchell Goosen (Shane McDermott) loves life in California, where he spends his days rollerblading and surfing. When his parents go to Australia, he's sent to stay with relatives in Ohio. He arrives in snowy Cincinnati carrying his surfboard, and meets his cousin Wiley (Seth Green),
a well-meaning dork who becomes Mitchell's new best friend and sidekick. The first day of school, Mitchell is ostracized by the other guys, especially Jack (Chris Conrad), the jock leader. That afternoon, at the big hockey game against "the Preps," Mitchell meets Nikki (Brittney Powell), a nice
blond girl, and expounds his pacifist beliefs. Then, even though he has never even seen a hockey game before, Mitchell is recruited to play. He accidentally scores the winning goal for the Preps, and he and Wiley are subjected to weeks of vengeful pranks.
When spring comes, Mitchell goes rollerblading. A gang of admiring kids in tow, he performs many stunts. He runs into Nikki and they go for a walk in an arboretum. He shows his rebellious nature by rollerblading in the garden. Later, they share a first kiss by the water in the moonlight. They're
harassed by Blane (Owen Stadele), the head Prep and, because Mitchell refuses to fight, have to be protected by Jack, who is Nikki's brother. Jack challenges Mitchell, who reiterates his belief that nothing is worth fighting for, causing Nikki to run out.
Mitchell decides to win Nikki back. He shows up at a rollerblade hockey game, scores a goal--this time for his team--and removes Blane's pants. This is the funniest thing anybody has ever seen, and everyone, except Jack, decides they judged Mitchell wrongly. They invite him to join their team in
a rollerblading race against the Preps down the most dangerous hill in town. As a team, Jack and Mitchell dispense with Blane and cross the finish line together. A waiting Nikki kisses Mitchell.
AIRBORNE is a reiteration of the KARATE KID formula, but without the mentor character or any of the charm or spirit. The characters are two-dimensional, and the movie pushes them through its generic plot with little imagination.
The stale story appears to exist only to fill time between the rollerblading sequences (performed by Team Rollerblade), which are wholly unimpressive. Whatever skill or excitement is meant to be displayed during the big race finale is undermined by the fact that AIRBORNE is trying to make
skating at high speed through traffic look like a cool idea. Fortunately, the movie is so flat and boring that any children who might be tempted to ape its stunts will probably not sit still long enough to see them. leave a comment
