Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board (2007 TV Movie) User Reviews

Back On The Pipeline

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 11 June 2007]

Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is a sequel to an old Disney channel film Johnny Tsunami from a few years ago. The lead Brandon Baker has grown considerably and really didn't convince me as a 17 year old. I'm not sure how it would have hurt the plot to have Baker be his real age of 22.

Still the film is pleasant to watch because it does carry over the main theme of the first film, the bond between young Johnny and his grandfather, a legendary Hawaiian surfer known as Johnny Tsunami. As I did in the first film, I did enjoy the scenes between Brandon Baker and his grandfather Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. They had me convinced they really were blood relations.

It's a Disney channel film so don't expect anything terribly profound or dramatic. Grandpa is getting married to a young widow and she's bringing an adolescent played by Jake T. Austin into the marriage. They have issues to resolve, the sort of ones you would find in a Disney production.

Of course they all get resolved in the end, still it's a pleasant enough film with nice New Zealand locations substituting for Hawaii. Can't go wrong there.

A Decent sequel to a 7-year old movie

[Perro__ · 6/10 · 14 June 2007]

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

Johnny's back, and the sequel's not bad...

[Jijjin2004 · 6/10 · 8 August 2007]

Johnny Tsunami was, surprisingly not bad at all. I acknowledge it as one of the better Disney Channel movie like High School Music (Yes I was harsher on my critics, but hey, it was more hyped and I had higher expectations). Johnny comes back to Hawaii for his grandfather's wedding. His grandfather, a widower, is getting married to a widow. Does the widow had kids you ask? Yes she does, a 12 year old son named Chris... making that Johnny's uncle. Chris wants to be in a group named the Dirt Devils, they kind of resemble the group back from Johnny Tsunami... or to a bigger extent, that one group from Brink. Not to mention that Chris is in denial with the marriage. That's basically how the plot goes (yeah, I'm not good at explaining stories without spoiling). Alright, on the the pros and cons... pros first. The biggest improvement between this and the prequel is the acting. Even being rated G and a Disney Channel movie, the acting isn't bad at all. I was able to watch the whole movie without thinking, "oh wow that scene or phrase was terrible." If you watched the prequel, you'll watch this with relief. Now the cons... unfortunately there are a bit more cons (though all are at a lesser extent). One is the new character Chris. Chris is some emo wannabe, and a very hated character in my opinion. You'll see, even in the end. Another con is the weak plot. The prequel had a simple story as well, but the plot in this movie is very limited. Your grandfather's getting married, you solve a kid's problems, and you meet (another) girl. The story tries to twist the elements around... And probably the biggest problem is Johnny comes back to Hawaii to see his new family... so what? There's almost no connection to the prequel whatsoever. And if you make a sequel to this movie, the plot except the fact that Grandpa Johnny got remarried would be nonexistent. Also one last thing is Val and Johnny. What happened to Emily? Then again, he never says anything about Val or Emily being his actual girlfriend. Well this is all I could say. This movie isn't bad, but it's just the weak plot that ruins it. But don't worry, it's watchable.

The Wheel

[tedg · 9 July 2007]

Erle Stanley Gardner found a formula that worked. He subsequently built what he called a "fiction factory," to manufacture copies based on that formula. It featured a sort of circular slide rule that in various spins could and did produce scores of books.

Disney's cable property does this now. The formula is simple: find yourself and at the same time (usually) reconcile some problem with a relationship with your parents.

The spin of the wheel this time has dirt skateboards and Hawaii. Nothing else differs from the formula.

It must be hell to have airtime to fill, and unrelenting obligation. Its yet another reason you won't find much worth watching on TeeVee.

This time the mom is a redhead, an artifact of a different Disney story factory.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Horrible

[janeg49 · 1/10 · 9 August 2007]

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.

A surprising descent sequel.

[brian-valovcin · 7/10 · 8 June 2007]

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.

Best 3 star movie i have ever seen

[marcusewers-23074 · 3/10 · 30 July 2022]

I've seen many movies and this one of them. I love when jony. My fav part was when we found it after watching the first movie... the first movie got me to watch the second one. I stayed out of the swimming to watch this 3 star masterpiece. The only thing i recommend is to make a jony part 3. Overall this movie was a solid 3/3.

Good sequel to a good original

[PCfresh · 7/10 · 12 June 2007]

Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board was probably one of the better sequels out there, not better the johnny Tsunami, but actually equal, id give both about 7 stars( an i have) to begin, we find johnny, a Hawaiian native, Vermont placed surf and snowboard champ, going back to Hawaii for his grandfather, the original "Johnny Tsunami",s wedding to a much younger bride, johnny meets his new uncle, a 12 year old Dirtboader named Chris, who is against the wedding all together, an at the same time as the wedding, Johnny's grandfather is opening a surf store that caters to dirt board sales, but along the time, confronts a rival shop owner, intent on getting the kapahalas, out-of-business.

The movie is good, it has laughs, not too much drama, an a new sport involved, dirt boarding, so expect something different.

All in all, its a good flick, that i highly recommend

awful

[math_drama · 1/10 · 26 June 2007]

Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is awful! The actors didn't know how to act, and they probably couldn't since the words in the script were so unrealistic. Jake T. Austin's voice was really whiny, and his character was just plain annoying. Rose McIva did a bad job. I know that she couldn't use her real accent, and it might have been hard to act, but I can't see why she couldn't have used her real accent. It was really stupid how Carla was marrying Johnny's grandpa, because she was practically the same age as Johnny's parents. And, you couldn't even tell if Johnny's grandpa was Johnny's dad's dad, or his mom's dad, because they both called him dad. And, the song Hold On by the Jonas Brothers kept on playing, and it was so annoying. When I was watching this movie, I couldn't stay put for the entire thing. I kept on getting up to read a book or go on the computer, but I still kept the movie on, half watching it. This movie is definitely one of the worst Disney Channel Original Movies ever made.

I like it...

[RosanaBotafogo · 6/10 · 12 March 2023]

Johnny Kapahala, a young Vermont snowboarding champion, returns to Hawaii for the wedding of his grandfather, a surfing legend. But in addition to lending a hand to his grandfather in a business dispute, he ends up having to help his stepson adapt to his new family. Johnny Kapahala (Brandon Baker), a young champion snowboarder from Vermont, returns to Hawaii for the wedding of his grandfather, a surfing legend. But in addition to lending a hand to his grandfather in a business dispute, he ends up having to help his stepson adapt to his new family.

If the first one was a cliché, this one was twice as cliché, I have nothing against it, neither in favor, for a rainy and boring Saturday night it will do, but I have a soft spot for cute family movies... I like it...

good movie, bad dirt boarding scenes

[glamdiva0 · 8/10 · 11 June 2007]

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.

A wonderful sequel to a wonderful movie.

[captaindampson · 8/10 · 8 June 2007]

This movie was amazing in its execution. It follows the story of the original movie, "Johnny Tsunami", with a great new twist. We start this movie with a 17 year-old Johnny Kapahala, who is set in his life at this point - at least, much more so than before. He's left behind his rebellious stage and is now very happy for his grandfather. Why, you may ask? Because he's getting married! The twist here is that his grandfather's soon-to-be wife is quite young, and she has a 12 year old son. Yes, Johnny's uncle is 5 years younger than him. And he's a little rascal, to be sure. His mother moved him to Hawaii to marry Johnny's grandpa, and the kid's none too happy about it. Of course, very early on Johnny is reminded by Sam (who is played by a new person in this movie, much to my sadness) that Chris, his soon to be uncle, is an awful lot like Johnny was when he was a kid.

This movie focuses on the troublesome Chris, who's trying to make a name for himself with a bad crowd, just trying to fit in, and Johnny's struggle to keep him on the right side of the tracks.

All in all, this is a great movie. The cast is almost the same, with the notable loss of the original actor who played Sam. The new guy does okay, but he's just not the same. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one; maybe not quite as much, but nonetheless.

Enjoy yourself, movie watchers! I hope this was helpful.

awesome

[cherrypie9702 · 10/10 · 3 July 2008]

First the comment below mine that said it is horrible needs to get her stories straight.They filmed in California,because they couldn't afford to go to Hawaii(huge surprise).Plus they didn't hire native Hawaiians because it is in California. When it isn't winter in California people dirt-board. Some people call each other bra after every sentence. yes this is the reason why the commenter below thought the things she said. But the review Here it goes I love it because it has Jake t Austin in it.But also because of the surprises on every scene.But i don't know why i like it. Oh my gosh Love the movie.people i recommend this movie because it is just random.I love how Jake jumped that gap.I didn't like that he fractured his arm.And i don't like that he likes Val.Johnny and Val should have kissed in the movie.And i don't like that Jake was a brat in the movie.My favorite part was when Johnny and Sam wake Jake up with loud music.Also i liked Val's house and 4-wheelers