This Point Break parody from Human Giant and Reno 911! is the ultimate rush
Today marks the 25th anniversary of Point Break, Kathryn Bigelow’s action-crime thriller featuring a group of gnarly bros chasing more than just some tasty waves. The film stars Keanu Reeves at his strapping-est and the late Patrick Swayze at his Swayziest in a bromance that quickly becomes a battle of wills that culminates with a Spanish blessing. Gary Busey also shows up as Reeves’ mentor, whose vow to “eat the ass end out of a dead rhino” demonstrated just how hungry he was for justice, i.e., a killer meatball sub.
The 2015 remake was a dour affair that replaced the original’s knockoff Zen koans with extreme sports, its humor with extreme sports, and its Anthony Kiedis with—well, you get the picture. But before Ericson Core’s movie arrived and took the wind out of everyone’s X-treme sails, the stars of Human Giant and Reno 911! collaborated on a parody that was more faithful to the original, despite only spanning a single scene.
The Human Giant collective represents the law and order in this video, with Aziz Ansari filling in for Reeves as slack-jawed FBI newbie Johnny Utah, and Rob Huebel playing his partner, Pappas (the Busey role). Reno 911!’s Ben Garant plays Bodhi; he’s not very profound, but he does casually work the movie’s title into conversation on multiple occasions. He’s backed up by Thomas Lennon, who is maybe playing Roach (James Le Gros, who had a cameo in the remake).
The four comedians act out the scene from the airport, following the disastrous “final score” for the Ex-Presidents gang. There aren’t many deviations from the film’s plot, aside from a prominent cameo for a Chrysler LeBaron. Ansari really commits to the part, though his Utah seems more betrayed than merely baffled. Lori Petty gets name-dropped, but sadly, there’s no reference to Warchild.