User reviews

I liked the way it was filmed - the composition and even the lens they used but the story felt unfinished. I think the film should have been longer or have a better ending. I wanted to see the main character make a part and get sponsored or win a contest and see his dad waiting for him to bring home the money and the trophy. The ending was just not satisfactory. The dialogue's alright. The friendship between the three friends was portrayed realistically. That's one thing that was done right in this film. As I mentioned before, the one thing that made this film enjoyable was the cinematography. That wide lens look is what kept me from looking away. I would love to see more films shot with a wide lens.

Overall, the film was just alright. I think if Illegal Civ keeps making more films they might be on to something.

I'm gonna keep this short and straight to the point

This is Mikey alfreds first time as a director and for the first time it's great. However some of the writing especially Miranda cosgroves writing felt very unnatural and it felt like she was reading a script and trying to put emotion behind it. On the other hand in my opinion Ryder, Aramis, Angus Cloud all were very surprised me in their abilities Nico Hiraga was good don't get me wrong just some of his like delivery was very strange.

The story is simple and straight to the point it also doesn't waste anytime from the very beginning he wants to be a pro skater and he strives for it.

Overall a very good film for a debut and I'm excited to see where this team and this director goes in the future.

How could someone honestly rate this film a 10. I don't know what the hell everyone else was watching but this film was straight boring. Someone on here even said it's the greatest movie ever and that they drove two hours to see it LMAO ya right buddy! This film just floats along and nothing really happens. It was pretty much pointless. 5 stars.

I know that's not what this movie is about, but I have to say it blew me away. I really wish they had like back in the day CDs or cassettes of songs in movies because this one was absolutely fabulous. OK that was my first thing that I was most impressed about the acting was relatively good, the main character played this part as well as he could wasn't much grit that was written into any of the other characters either except maybe some of the conflicts arising from aspirations the more talented skaters versus just the old friends from youth I'm not quite sure I understood the significance of the male female story. I'm guessing was just part of the I'm growing up thing but it wasn't too well explored overall watchable movie.

Overall I thought the movie was solid, if you like Illegal Civ and you have watched some of their videos before than you'll appreciate what this movie is. But this movie was all over the place, there was multiple stories I felt with not enough detail to them and some of the actors lines felt very pushed ahead instead of having time for the actors to fully grow. The one thing that I could compare this to is Illegal Civ Summer 17, it felt like a longer movie version of that series.

This movie is just boring. A lot of the scenes are just stupid and most of the drama is cringey. Felt like they got a script for a straight-to-dvd children's movie and tried to make it into a serious film. A lot of the actors seem alright but a lot of the dialog was just bad. Some of the actors/characters (the girl and Tyshawn) seemed out of place, but that's mostly on the director. Cinematography was very nice but that doesn't fix the bad writing, dull plot line and poor directing.

This is basically a festival piece.

Character development of "follow your dream" while making mistakes on the way seems like the standard festival category.

I find it very average. Comedy was lacking, drama was lacking. Vince Vaughn got his paycheck. Ryder McLaughlin was fairly good.

There just isn't anything exceptional about this movie.

North Hollywood (2020) is the directorial debut of Mikey Alfred, the creative director and founder of the first teen movie studio and skateboard/clothing brand, Illegal Civilization is a film that I have been anticipating for a while now especially since this was produced by Pharrell Williams. NH is a biopic, centered around Mikey, a high school water polo player/alter boy set on his course of being a pro skateboarder. This isn't without its obstacles as his dad and others, mostly Mikey himself, get in his way of achieving his dream. I had the pleasure of attending one of the live stream dates and it felt like such a unique occasion as everything has transitioned to some sort of virtual platform. Least to say that this was a very cool experience for me and I'm sure the rest of the viewers. This movie is not the best movie out. I was definitely expecting more from the Illegal Civ group, but what I saw was an elongated Illegal Civ YT video. I love music don't get me wrong, and music heavily influences the films that I script-write, but a lot of it seemed unnecessary. Some transitions seemed like they were in there because they "looked and sounded cool" which they did, but totally threw off the whole tempo of the film. The acting was subpar, especially from Ryder. I love you bro, but you definitely have a long way to go. I will say that some of the performances where very surprising to me, Angus, Nico, Armais, all really well done by them. The scene with Gillian Jacobs was great. I just have problems with the main cast. Miranda Cosgrove didn't really add much for me as Mikey's love interest. Not very compelling when she was on screen. Vince Vaughn as Mikey's dad had his moments, however there were parts where it was hard to distinguish his "caring" moments from his "lecture" moments. I think this was a great casting job however, but I think this leads into one of my main gripes with the movie, being the script. There were parts in this movie where it felt very natural, however there would be little instances of what I call "novel dialogue", sounding like someone is reading from a novel, which really throws thing off during the watch. There were some technical issues when it came to rack focusing, but overall the cinematography was very classic Illegal Civ, which is a good thing as it is unique to them. It is a beautifully shot movie, the set designs, the fits where all very well done. Overall, I see the potential, I really do, but this film left more to be desired. The editing choices, the acting, the script really slid this film of the rails for me. I will be looking out for more films by Illegal Civ however because you guys are sick and I love what you are doing! Keep at it!

This is a story that shows how friendships are challenged as times change and how faith is summoned and persevered when the ones you love most doubt you.

This one is going to hurt because of how much I love Illegal Civ and the entire cast of this movie, however, this movie is very boring and it leaves you confused and maybe even angry. I payed the 18$ to watch it before it was released on iTunes and I can wholeheartedly say I wish I would have waited. The character was so hard to root for that I started to enjoy watching his life become a mess. Good actors are totally wasted and there's massive parts of the movie that are super dumb and have no purpose in furthering the plot. Like the lame scene with the joke that fails and all the homies are shaking their heads. Also the scene at that sketchy apartment when he gets beat up. This movie is so highly rated because all the kids who can't think critically don't want to seem like haters and actually admit the movie sucked. It's cool that this was made by skaters, for skater, starring skaters but when it comes to being a movie this was atrocious. With that being said I think Mikey has great potential and I'm excited to see what future projects he releases.

The movie is fun! It's not supposed to be a Scorsese film with layers on top of layers of plot. It's a coming of age movie about skateboarding with its obvious flaws, it's really not that deep.

Most skaters in North Hollywood are Hispanic .I know cause I live near there so this must be some other make believe NH. I guess I'll look past that and give it a chance.

Extremely mediocre, but i believe that some people are into that stuff.

Just watched a live screening and loved it!! A relatable story with great performances, can't wait to be able to see it again. The soundtrack complimented the cinematography beautifully and of course there were many amazing skate clips. Highly recommend!!!

Mikey Alfred did a good job in directing his ability into the movie. The story was in the right place the entire movie, however there were a couple instances where it could have been pieced together more fluidly scene by scene. It really makes you think about your position where you started to where you want to take it and how your friends and those around affect your mental. It doesn't necessarily need to be skating any unconventional profession could relate to the story arc. The delivery of the acting was well although dry in some places, but understandably so as to get the the full range of skating to be portrayed properly real skaters were used instead of full fledged actors. Which looking past it you can understand where Mikey's art direction was coming from. Overall the movie was good and holds its own, its analyzable but could have done better in the construction of the scenes, and the ending of the movie. Even though no questions are left unanswered, there are some holes ( due to those scenes being incomplete) here and there that do leave you with a sense of needing to know more about the trials and tribulations of living in this new world. Definitely going to watch again and possibly a third time. Will definitely own a copy once it's out.

1 hour and 33 minutes of a movie with no plot. Yikes, It was a tough one to get through.

Was rough, didnt really want to see the main guy succeed kind does stuff for no reason and everything, conflict, dialogue, relatonships, feel pretty forced, really unnatural, drawn out, choppy... cringe.... Probably couldve been batter being 20 mins. Dont know what the outcome supposed to be, so many questions, a lot of frustration... Jason dill pretty funny as a preacher tho.

The first bad sign is the woke diverse cast. Only in Hollywood does the makeup of a group of friends consist of every race. I only mention it because when I see it, it feels forced and phony, especially since Hollywood is forcing filmmakers to include a diverse group of people to get included in the Oscars. I just hate casting based on some arbitrary made-up quotas.

A character named Adolf? Really? (face palm)

It was just a bunch of random scenes trying too hard to be American Graffiti. The music didn't help. Why all 50s music? It made no sense at all. It was so out of place and jarring. Nor did it make any sense that he never heard of Bob Hope after 20 years of living with his dad who was a fan. Growing up you just get to know what your parents like.

The other issue is the lead girl is 27 years old playing an 18-year-old.

Of course, they had to address all the social justice talking points. The writing wasn't interesting, funny, or engaging. All minutia, but not Seinfeld-style funny minutia. Then a bunch of useless background information, which wasn't even exposition, so there was no real point to it. I just quickly checked out during the dialogue. Nor did I buy for one second that this skater was a church-going guy.

They all had the intelligence of 5-year-old kids. This was a woke dumb, dumber, and dumberer.

After 45 minutes I had no idea where this movie was going and it just never went anywhere. His relationship with his dad was one noted. When someone gets an opportunity to make a film, which is super rare you should be on point. This was not, unfortunately, because I like to root for independent filmmakers.

The best part of the movie was the meeting with the Abigaile. That would have been an interesting relationship they could have explored because Rachel was a bore-fest and there was no reason for her to have a relationship with Michael.

The drama and fights between Michael and his friends were lazy and phony. It was almost like a bunch of home movies put together. And Michael didn't seem to fit in at all and his falling out with them was forced.

It was 90 minutes of "Good Will Hunting" trying to focus on skating while his dad trying to get him to go to college. That was it. Not every idea is a story. A story BUILDS and takes you somewhere.

SKIP IT!

This film may have flaws in it's crafting but it is full of spirit !!!!

👍

Maybe I was in a bad mood to be watching this. But it just plods along, and I didn't find it to be anything ... like entertaining for instance. It's a father trying to raise a son movie. // Vince Vaughn plays the father, Oliver, and his role is pretty bad. Not like he was acting badly, but the writing and directing are really lackluster. // Maybe someone else liked this movie more than me. I just didn't feel it. I tried napping while watching it, but the fingernails on the chalk board kept me awake. // The Bushwacker 6/2/2021.

I'm very confused as the movie did not seem to have a plot. Very artistic style in filming, but the writing felt underwhelming and the dialogue most certainly was not family friendly as it seems that the vocabulary was limited to curse words for the majority of the film. Vaughn had a few funny lines but that's about all this film had going for it. Overall, I don't plan on watching it again.

Plot was all over the place. No finesse in the dialouge, the scenes that were supposed to be funny were pretty weak. It didnt really lift for me and I wish there would have been a higher effort put into making the script feel tight and punchy.

A lot of fake reviews here uploaded on 10th of April..

What may be good about this film is eclipsed by the most banal and boring story. Skaters are going to watch no matter. Everyone else, avoid.