Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board

When a month ago I heard that the original Disney channel movie Johnny Tsunami(1998) was returning with a sequel, I was psyched. The original was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and to put it easily enough, I was excited to see an update.

Now, when the movie begins, we immediately reacquaint ourselves with Johnny Kapahala, now 17 and back in Hawaii to visit his famous virtuoso surfer Grandfather, whose getting married. Now at the start of the movie, I got a little confused at first. Johnny meets up with a friend who I had no clue was suppose to be Sam from the first Johnny Tsunami. Yeah, Lil' J replaces Lee Thompson Young from the first movie.

Now, in the first movie, Young played Sam Sterling, a snowboarder Johnny meets in Vermont, who shows him the ropes and what not. I thought he was the coolest character back then. Now 7 years later, his character seems to have faded, along with his look, which isn't Lee Thompson Young's fault. Lil' J doesn't look anything like Lee Thompson Young, and he doesn't even pull his character off good at all. I thought it was kind of funny how when Johnny and him meet up again, Johnny doesn't even try to make a good attempt at being overjoyed by seeing him again. It was like Bradon Baker was saying to himself, "Yeah, that's not Sam".

Simply enough, I think Young reprising his role would have definitely been better, and a note to any director or whatever making a sequel to a movie series: If you can't get the actor to play as the character from the previous movie, don't add the character in the script! Or at least find someone who looks like the guy! Thankfully, Sam's role is very small in the movie, so I don't care. The plot of the movie revolves around Johnny going back to Hawaii preparing for his Grandfather's wedding, and learning he has an uncle, whose 12. Yeah, the next annoying character in the movie is Chris, Johnny's 12-year old uncle. Chris is a misguided pre-teen generally getting into the wrong crowd, and Johnny's there to veer him away from that.

You'd think that since they're back in Hawaii, surfing would be the main sport in the movie. Whelp, it's not, it's dirt boarding, which is a welcome change, as it shows how interesting and fast-paced the sport can be.

All in all, Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board showed me my childhood is dying quickly, but is a decent sequel, even through it's shortcomings. 6/10

I HATE Disney movies about Hawaii. The only exception to that was Lilo & Stitch, where our culture, people, and life were paid attention to with great detail.

My parents and I watched the entire movie, struggling to figure out where any of the locations were. And you know what? We hardly recognized ANYTHING. The North Shore (which is on Oahu) and its famous waves were nowhere to be found, and nothing even looked remotely close to the North Shore.

And another thing I loved was that most of the characters were white. I am not being racist or discriminatory or anything, but I didn't see more than 3 'local-looking' people at all. I also don't know of much people who dirtboard here, so I have no idea why it was such a big focus of the film.

I know I know, people don't watch Disney movies for accurate descriptions of lifestyles in places outside of California. It's just annoying how they continue to do it.

And by the way, we don't say 'brah' at the end of every sentence.

The movie itself is great. But the dirt boarding scenes just ruin the movie. I can't stand to watch the race. The camera job sucks. You can't see a thing during it. Part of this is because the shots last only 3 seconds. The race would have been 'edge of you're seat' worthy if you could actually see it better. But other than that, the movie was awesome. I don't see why everybody is saying that Jake T. Austin sucked.Everyone says he was a whiny little kid, but that's how his character is meant to be. I do agree though that there should be more scenes with Val and Jonny. Over all the movie is great, and I recommend that you watch it.

Like many others, I loved the original Johnny Tsunami (1999), which was a part of my childhood. Somehow, this sequel never got on my radar. I didn't get around to watching it until 2024. Why they took so long to make this sequel is strange, but anyways ...

The returning cast members - Johnny, his grandfather, and his parents - are all great, and they really remind me of why the first movie was so good. The scenes where Johnny has light-hearted banter with his grandfather, for example, are so natural and charming. The movie has a decent plot

That said - In my review of the original Johnny Tsunami (1999), I gave a 10/10 score . There are several problems that block this movie from the same score ...

firstly, the character Sam reappears in this movie, but Lee Thompson Young isn't here. They use a different actor, which is distracting. I believe that they should have not have included the Sam character if Lee Thompson Young didn't come back.

Secondly, this movie, like the original, concludes with a big race. But whereas the original movie, from start to end, seemed to build up to the big race between Johnny and his rival, the big race in this movie feels more random, tacked-on, and awkward.

Thirdly - there is a character named Val, who is vaguely implied to be Johnny's romance interest but not quite (if that seems confusing, it is). Their relationship felt half-hearted, as if the movie doesn't know what to do with it. I ended up wondering where Kirsten Storms' character from the original was.

Fourthly - the relationship between Johnny's grandpa and his new wife is way too awkward because of the huge age gap. The movie includes some romantic drama scenes between them. Those scenes are hard to watch.

Fifthly - the character Chris (Johnny's new uncle, a 12 year old boy) is unlikable to the point of annoyance. I get that his behavior was necessary for the plot and the character arc, but there was a point where I just wanted his mother to give him a spanking

6.0/10.

Johny is back and better then ever in this wonderful sequel to the hit Original Disney Channel movie, Johny Tsunami. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board picks up a few years later as we see the little boy that we have learned to love has become more mature. The story is nothing great but it surprised me as a pretty interesting story line for a sequel to a movie that came out in 1999. The amount of drama that has been put into the movie makes you actually care what happens to the characters. But it's not all slow and touching drama. The dirt boarding and other extreme moments is what really makes this movie shine. All the stunts look very real, and makes you think that you could do it. When the action gets going, it never stops. The energy you get from viewing such events gives you a certain rush. Simply there's nothing like it in it's kind. Disney played the safe card and produced a solid sequel which has its moments. A definite see, for anybody interested in extreme action or anyone who are fans of tho old Johny Tsunami. This will deffently not ruin the first film, if anything, it will revive the Johny Tsunami legacy for all you old fans out there.