When I first heard about this movie I was very interested. It had a very, very strong 90s vibe, which it absolutely should since it's supposed to take place during that era. I never got around to seeing it when it came out, and missed my chance when it was at Redbox. I finally was able to watch it today after finding out it was free on Prime, and well, umm...
This movie is essentially the modern remake of Kids, but is supposed to take place during that same period of time, but in Cali instead of New York. I will start off by saying, I hate the movie Kids. While I get that it's a fairly real look at how some kids and teens live, it just makes me feel ill, like literally physically ill. Maybe it's because the way kids and teens are depicted in that film was in stark contrast to my life at that point, but it just makes me feel terrible watching it.
I pretty much had the same experience watching Mid90s. The movie is about a 12-year old kid who attempts to escape his dysfunctional, abusive household by hanging out with a group of skateboarding misfits. The movie then becomes a coming of age film about the main character learning how to fit in with this group while dealing with substance abuse, drugs, sex, and pretty much all the other fun things you get to deal with growing up. Meanwhile there's plenty of adolescent drama, household dysfunction, and other nasty shit until the end of the movie. While the movie didn't have the tragically sad ending I thought it would, it was arguably worse be being somewhat unsettling and unresolved.
Aside from my personal feelings about Mid90s, I just thought it was kinda boring too. There were more than a few times when I considered turning it off due to my interest waning, as well as the movie being pretty predictable and cliche at times. I did find the cinematography to be pretty good, as well as the sort of grainy, raw look they were going for. The movie did mostly feel authentic to the look and feel of the mid 90s, albeit looking very different than how my life looked. I felt like there was an over emphasis of trying to nostalgia bait people will all sorts of 90s props and references, especially in the beginning, although I guess they just really wanted to hook the viewer into knowing exactly when this movie was taking place.
Overall I really didn't enjoy watching this film, but I guess it was mostly for personal reasons more than anything. If you like the movie Kids you will probably really like Mid90s. For me though, I like to remember the much more innocent, lighthearted, and fun memories of the 90s I personally had, like going to play Lasertag with my friends, staying up all night and playing Goldeneye 007, watching Nickelodeon, and having birthday parties at Dave and Busters with my friends and family. While I had some very difficult times growing up, this movie really makes me realize how incredibly lucky, privileged and fortunate I was and still am. Many people had it way harder than me, and this movie is a very real reminder of that.
