“Thrashin’, it’s just an aggressive style of skating.”

Justin’s rating: Thanks, movie, for making me body conscious

Justin’s review: It was kind of wild to be watching a much older Josh Brolin in 2025’s The Running Man a few days ago and then jump back to the ’80s to see him in his teen Goonies era.

Welcome to SoCal as it used to be — big boomboxes, bigger hair, and the biggest skateboarding egos. At the top of the pack is good-natured Corey (Brolin), who’s arrived in LA to hang out with friends (“The Ramp Locals”) and compete in some local skateboarding competitions.

What he didn’t expect is that he’d fall hard for Chrissy (Pamela Gidley, Cherry 2000), who happens to be the little sister of Hook, the pirate-wannabe leader of another crew called the Daggers. The Daggers don’t like Corey and his group one bit, so you can see where this is headed. And before Shakespeare can roll over in his grave, we’ve got ourselves another Romeo and Juliet situation with rising tension.

Although I don’t think that Shakespeare put in a scene where two characters on skateboards jousted with pillow-topped flails. That was a missed opportunity.

It’s not all 90210 teen romance drama, though. This movie is infused with the purest of skateboarding spirit, as the main characters actually knew how to skate and plenty of extra professionals (including Tony Hawk) were brought in to fill out the stunt and chase scenes. A pre-Twin Peaks Sherilyn Fenn pops up to make us question the passage of time. And you know that everything’s going to come to a head with a crazy big sports competition as it should.

Thrashin’ is the movie that I hoped Gleaming the Cube would be — a lot of goofy fun with high-spirited skateboarders against a backdrop of wild punk music. It’s a shallow, feel-good outing where it’s more about the energy than an original tale. And hey, any time things started to slow down, this film transitioned right into a skateboarding montage to get moving again!

There’s this indefinable feel to these kinds of ’80s movies that shove zingy tunes, simple thrills, and a whole lot of beachfront vibes right in our faces that I absolutely love. Gives me a hit of nostalgic dopamine every time, whether it’s the volleyball party in Karate Kid, the summer vacation flings of One Crazy Summer, or the pranking of Police Academy 5 (and yeah, I know I’m the only person in the world who liked that last one).

I didn’t realize how much I needed a shot of this right now, and I’m not complaining. I had way more fun with this movie than I anticipated going into it.

Let me put it simply: If you like shameless montages, teens being wholesomely silly, and a whole lot of skateboarding stunts, you’ll be in paradise here. Thrashin is a shallow puddle, indeed, but one of those brilliant oil-slick puddles that’s all the colors of the rainbow.

Intermission!

• You wish you were so cool to skate off the roof of your house to get going in the morning
• OK, I dig this title track. It’s unapologetically ’80s (and by Meat Loaf!). “Tearin’ up today, thrashin’ USA uh-HUH”
• How many teens can you fit into a small car? About 14.
• The little kid skateboarder, aww
• “Beat it you Val jerk!”
• Want a convertible? Just cut off the roof of your car and graffiti it up. That’s a good way to lower the resale value.
• That’s a lot of booze you’re trying to smuggle into.. a skateboarding dance club?
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers used to be so young!
• Hook’s a punk poser
• Of course she knows how to skate well, I saw that coming
• Hook’s really into his dangly earrings
• Throwing caltrops into a skate competition is a jerk move for sure
• Everyone’s dead meat, apparently
• Parking garages have the best curved ramps for continuous skating
• Haha he’s on the roof, that’s perfect
• This movie is brought to you by Life cereal
• “Chrissy! I’m going! OK?” that couldn’t have been said in more of a pubescent voice
• Generic beer
• Is it just me or is this the least-dangerous and least-consequential jousting session ever?
• Hitchhiking montage, even
• So many stunt people probably got maimed and bruised in this downhill race