Kickin' It Old Skool is a real movie. Trust me I saw it.

Kickin’ it Old School (I ‘m sorry, “Skool”) was a flop. In fact, the only real proof that it played in theaters at all is a billboard declaring that it opened April 27th that, inexplicably, still looms over my commute. It can currently be seen at America's 2nd run “Dollar Theaters” and will be available for home viewing on August 28th.
The film scores no points for originality. Both its “culture shock after coming out of a __ year coma” and “saving _________ by winning a ___________ contest” plotlines have been done and done and done before. Originality is not the goal with this feature. The purpose is to provide a platform for the comedy of Jaime Kennedy, a performer whose work is hit and miss. While he was spot-on with his dual cameos in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, a look down his filmography reminds us of his work in Son of the Mask and Doctor Doolittle 2.
Kennedy is able to pull this one off. Unlike so many comic actors he does not rely on an oversized ego to be funny. Between Jack Black, Will Farrell and Vince Vaugn there are enough people doing the self confident boob shtick. Kennedy, instead, fully commits to playing a teen from the 80’s who suddenly finds himself as a thirty-something in the 21st Century. There is no sense of “I am hilarious, allow me to shower you with my humor” from any of the actors in the film. Instead the viewer gets that rare feeling that the performers are trying to win us over; that they have something to prove.
80’s nostalgia has also become a well trod path as we get further from that special decade. Most of the references in Kickin’ it Old Skool dive a bit deeper than those of other films or the I Love the 80’s program on Vh1. The attention paid to toys of the era in particular will delight people of a certain age. Having seen this with someone born a tad too late I can say it will confound those of other ages. I was unable to explain the glory of Garbage Pail Kids without disrupting other moviegoers.
There is plenty about the movie that is indefensible. Some of the editing and camera work should have been done with some extra care. Gags revolving around issues of race and religious affiliation are not clever enough to be much more than offensive. However, while some of the jokes are too easy and others are plain tired, there are enough surprising laughs to make the film an overall, albeit lowbrow, success.