Johnny Tsunami [VHS]
In Hawaii 13-year-old Johnny has the market cornered on cool--his grandfather's the legendary surfer Johnny Tsunami, and he himself is a righteous riptide or two away from riding into the sunset, hang-10 style, with a surfing medal. He's also, in the familiar formula fashion of the bulk of family entertainment, a great kid who's about to be plunged willy-nilly into a world without waves (the Kauai-style waves he craves, anyway). In Vermont, where his creased-too-tight Dad's accepted a job at a la-di-da academy, waters get plenty choppy for Johnny. The prepsters don't dig his dress code, and to him, their snobbery in keeping "urchins"--public-school kids--from snowboarding on their side of the mountain is totally gnarly. As tensions with his schoolmates mount, already prickly Johnny-Pop relations plummet. Johnny and an urchin pal, army brat Sam, hop a military ride to Hawaii, where they hang with Johnny the elder and--yawn--figure out for themselves that they can't run, or surf or snowboard, away from their problems. Back in Vermont, Grandpa enjoins Johnny to inject his passion for surfing into snowboarding. That way, he's sure to wallop big-mouth Bret, an academy kid, in a mountainside ski/snowboard showdown. Suspense not beingJohnny Tsunami's strong suit, guessing the winner isn't likely to inspire a lot of head scratching. Instead, what this flick may inspire is an appreciation for cool, air-catching sports and the concept that changing coasts or climates needn't mean social catastrophe for kids.--Tammy La Gorce