Overrated and overhyped

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Kenny Starfighter is a useless and airheaded would-be space hero, having trouble fixing his grades at the Space Hero Academy on the planet Mylta (Swedish for "cloudberry jam"). He is obsessed with becoming a space hero - alas, he does not want to become a barber, the proud occupation of all of his equally dim family members - but he hasn't got the faintest idea of what a black hole is, and when he sees a celebrity on TV he acknowledges this as a typical case of "deja vu". His only chance of becoming a space hero of the lowest degree is to catch enough speed criminals. He'll get fifty points for one ticket, and it takes 1000 to get a degree. He's already having problems doing the math, and when he attempts to catch his first Winnebago speed criminal (see Spaceballs) he can only appreciate it through his dashboard exclaiming "Really fast!" As luck has it though, he crashes through one of those pesky black holes and ends up on the planet Earth, where he gets his big chance catching a big space criminal, a big-headed, wheelchair-bound "brainiac" if you will, with the properly Swinglish name 'Rutger Oversmart'.This may seem like a lot of exposition to give away in English for a movie that few people outside of Sweden will even see - but paradoxically, I think anyone not Swedish might appreciate this movie more, since I can only imagine it being wonderfully bizarre for anyone not familiar with cultural in-jokes or the Swedish language, which reveals some horrid acting for those that master it. Furthermore, Kenny Begins is a prequel to a popular mini series called Kenny Starfighter that aired in Sweden in 1997 and became hugely successful. It had a similar plot and it introduced Kenny Starfighter, played with utter brilliance by Johan Rheborg, a character that became enough of a phenomenon to launch quite the hype in Sweden for this first movie, with quite a budget to boot, with some of the most expensive special effects ever devoted to any Swedish film.As for the movie, it really does fail where the series won me over. The writing is drastically thinner with a more contrived sound to much of the dialog, and the actors aren't really convincing anyone either. There are two kids in the movie, played by Bill Skarsgård and Carla Abrahamsen. There were four kids in the series and they were all goofy and charismatic, if not totally realistic. These two aren't really acting, more talking very statically as if they are obsessed with "acting". As the plot of the movie progress, it turns out we are meant to care for these characters more than we do for Kenny. Kenny becomes like both the star and comic relief, whereas these two kids become the "human element" of the story.This is a sloppy miscalculation, but the rest of the movie isn't really that well thought up either. It all stands and falls on Rheborg's valiant Kenny Starfighter, and if you enjoyed the series you will enjoy the movie. Not as much, because it's actually a pretty bad movie in every sense, but this is a rare case where that doesn't really prevent a recommendation. There's a scene where the heroes can see mayhem flying about outside the window and one of the school teachers fly up against the glass. Kenny points and exclaims "Oh look, an old lady!" Final point: If you don't think that's funny, you don't have to see the movie.

This film features a lot of top Swedish comedians - but somehow manages to strangle their creativity. Despite the film being based on the great TV-series Kenny Starfighter, nothing is even remotely as good as the original. Somebody on this forum compared Kenny Begins with SW 1-3, I tend to agree. A visually superior version of the original - but lacking in story/acting and overall feel. About the humour: When I saw the movie (with my eleven year old daughter) the cinema audience laughed only three or four times during the entire movie. Sorry but watching Kenny drink shampoo just ain't funny (although it may sound funny). Top joke in the whole film: a computerized voice saying "800 degrees, trust me" (song lyric)...Bill Skarsgård was probably casted due to his last name, did not display much acting skills. Johan Rheborg looked tired and Björn G. didn't get one single funny line to speak. Great visual effects, nice props/costumes and über-cool super villains, though.

This film is a prequel to the TV series, taking place during Kenny's final exams at the Galaxy Hero Academy, where he faces the risk of having to become a hairdresser if he fails. During the practical exams, Kenny crashes on Earth while chasing a speeder, and accidentally discovers the evil plans of the smartest man in Universe, Rutger Oversmart. Rutger, on the other hand, is not at all happy when he learns that a Galaxy Hero student is about to thwart his plans, even if it happens to be the most stupid student the Galaxy Hero Academy has ever seen.Like the TV series, this is a comedy with some action in it. The humor is basically the same as in the TV series, and are mostly centered around Kenny doing and saying stupid things. Swedish media has given it very varied reviews, ranging from immature to great. Sure, you need to have a certain kind of humor to enjoy Kenny Starfighter, but if you enjoyed the TV series, you're in for a treat.

The movie describes the life and adventures of Kenny Starfighter before the TV-series. It's kind of like Star Wars 1-3... ;-)Our kids (aged 9 and 11) love the TV-series, and they were really exited about seeing the movie. They weren't disappointed... the first comment when we got out was "We must get this movie on DVD!"It's a really good family movie. The action is great, the jokes are somewhat pubertal, and there's quite a few references to other great movies, like Star Wars. Even mom, who probably isn't a part of the main target group, thought that it was a rather funny movie.