Once again, FLF delivers the goods in a fast-paced all-out free-ride film. You might say Monkey On a String is sort of a “best-of” highlight movie that travels the world grabbing the best moves from some of today’s most talented riders.
The first thing I noticed with this film is that it moves quickly from one section to another. You never get bored with any one scene or rider — once they throw down and stomp their moves, it goes on to the next person and location. You may even need to rewind at times to figure out where they are. Despite this pace, they make sure to include some excellent slow motion of the best action.
One of my favorite aspects of this movie is that with a varied roster of riders, they capture many different styles of wakeboarding. From Shaun and Gerry’s slider sessions at OWC to Ricky Gonzales’ slow rotations in Arizona to Stephanne Trane flying high in New Caledonia to Erik Ruck off axis in Mexico, this movie shows most every aspect of wakeboarding today.
You can tell a lot of effort was put into getting the goods for this film. The color and imagery is much better than last year’s My House, and the editing synchs up well with the music. The riding highlights would have to include Erik Ruck’s spins and whirly to blind, Luke Wulf’s 900 and huge inverts, Gregg Necrason’s huge double-grab 180, Drew McGuckin’s style lessons on a wakeskate along with Scott Byerly and Brannon Meeks’ insane death-slide sections at the end.
Overall, a must-have video that goes down smooth and satisfies. Don’t miss the bonus riding section after the credits where Bruce Clem throws a late nose-grab. With tunes by the likes of Frenzal Bomb, Pilfers, Orange 9mm and No Use for a Name, Monkey on a String will get you amped to ride. (To see behind-the-scenes images of Monkey on a String, turn to page 66 of the May, 2000 issue of WBM.)
