Admittedly, I’ve never seen the original Too Much Love, but when the trailer for Too Much Love 2: The Breakdown (TML2) hit the web I knew I needed to cop the second installment of the series. John Bolino is amazing, I’d been yearning for a fresh Jeph Howard section, and of course there is that little Chris Farmer section.
TML2 is a local video out of Minnesota, produced by Blake Cohen and Brett Dasovic. Like I said, I’ve never seen the first video, so I can’t comment on the progression between the first and second, but as for TML2 - it is a good video with room for improvement. If you watched the trailer and saw Howard, Bolino and Farmer you may be expecting some kind of epic video, and I have to say that I had high expectations. But after watching the video it’s easy to see that this is just a local video that happens to feature some top pros. The video is a documentation of part of the Minnesota scene, and that scene is definitely healthy.
The intro begins with clips from each profiled rider in the video – John Bolino, Jeph Howard, Chris Farmer, Michael Garlinghouse, and producer/blader Brett Dasovic – and progresses to include skaters from all over Minnesota and a few faces from elsewhere. The filming and editing is alright, and for this video, the song is decent. Thrown in are some ill tricks, and there you go – TML2 has a solid intro. Notable skaters from the intro, who also appear throughout the video, include Blake O’Brien, Aaron Peterson, James Beary and Derek Larson.
The appeal of TML2 lies strictly in its profiles, the first of which goes to Jeph Howard. Jeph’s been laying down serious hammers since back when he was wearing sweatpants that looked like they came from the Skittles factory. Well, he’s still laying them and they are just as intense as ever. I can’t say that I approve of the song for this section, but that’s okay because it’s not my video, nor my profile. The song is boring, but if anything I think it puts that much more focus on Jeph’s skating, which is incredible. Right off the bat he destroys it with a disaster fishbrain on what looks like a gap to 16-stair down rail that sets the tone for the rest of the section. Like I said, TML2 is a local video that has some top pros, and Jeph is one of them. Rail transfers, gaps, gaps into and out of rails, switch-ups, Jeph kills it through the whole profile. Notable tricks are an illusion zero makio (snake zero makio) on a down rail, alley-oop topsoul fullcab gap out over a rail to drop, and a ridiculous topsoul to HUGE drop that you can see in the trailer. I don’t know if Jeph has room left for more sponsors, but if he does they should be knocking down his door after watching this section.
One aspect of the video that I don’t really feel is the sampled audio from various movies at the beginning of each section. However, any section that begins with a sampled Woody Allen audio clip is the kind of section I want to watch. I’m talking about Michael Garlinghouse’s profile. The last video I reviewed was the Vibralux team video, On Top, and Michael has a section in that video, as well. Between those two sections I’ve really started digging his skate moves. There really isn’t anything lacking from the section – Garlinghouse pulls tricks switch and natural, does gaps and grinds, and skates all kinds of different obstacles. Beyond that, he has an individual style that keeps growing on me, and hopefully others, as well. The music in this section is mellow and has an easy-going feel. I’ve never met him, but from watching his skating alone it seems like Michael has the same type of attitude. Another reason I love this profile is because there is some seriously sick terrain being shredded down. Dope ledges, crazy spots, freeway overpasses, and lines. Some of my highlights from this profile are the line that goes right foot true porn and then inspin fastplant-to-left foot true porn, some ill stylish grabs, and a full allyooop acid on a stair ledge. I wish more people would make sections like this. Variety in tricks, skating both ways, sick terrain…great stuff.
The next section is a montage split among Aaron Peterson, Jeff Dahmen, Kevin Meland and Josh Ulrichsen. The music is off target again in this section, and it’s too bad for the riders. The song has no climactic point – or much variation at all, for that matter – which makes it hard to build up any intensity. What results is a string of clips put to music, none set apart from another, nothing at all to grasp your interest except for the skating itself. Unfortunately the skating alone isn’t enough for this section to pull its weight compared to the profiles, but I have to give the riders credit for busting their asses. They all come through with some decent clips. I really liked Kevin Meland’s skating, and Aaron Peterson kills it with a sick ender.
Producer/Editor Brett Dasovic is up next with a full profile. Brett’s skating is the kind of skating I enjoy. He spins both ways into and out of grinds, grinds both ways with spins in and out, and jumps big gaps. That being said, I found myself wondering why I didn’t absolutely love the section. I think it is because of the music. This is Brett’s section in his own video, so I’m positive that he wanted that song to be used, but I don’t know why. Though, I must admit that the music and skating go well together somehow. Not my choice, but at least it works. Brett kills it with hard tricks landed both ways, lots of lines, massive 180’s, and a controlled style. Brett shows us here why he’s on the come up.
One of the main reasons I wanted to pick up Too Much Love 2: The Breakdown was because I couldn’t wait for a new John Bolino section. If you don’t know how dope this kid is on blades, let me say this: he’s THIS dope. JonJon does some seriously sick tricks for his section in TML2, but he is capable of much more. Bolino does 540’s both ways over double sets, rewinds in the middle of switch-ups, and has such a smooth style that makes it look like he’s hardly even trying. While the John Bolino profile was one of the highlights of the video for me, it is no exemption from the curse of bad music choice. Sometimes you can use a good song, but when you use it in a blading video the song doesn’t work. That’s pretty much what happens in John’s section, and TML2 as a whole – songs that aren’t necessarily bad are put with skating and it become monotonous. In any case, this section is a hit and a miss. What hits are some seriously sick tricks. What misses is that even though Bolino kills it, he is capable of killing it much harder. But beggars can’t be choosers, so I’ll take whatever section of John I can get.
After the JonJon section there is a montage that is mainly shared among the profile riders from the video. Howard, Garlinghouse, Farmer, Bolino, and Dasovic all have some sick tricks and are then joined by some friends for a couple tricks. This section is a good look at the overall video – the profiled skaters kill it hard, and the locals come through with good tricks of their own. I think its kind of cool to see your regular average local dude in the same section as John, Jeph and Chris. Notable clip is Bolino’s line of switch 360 then back torque to true makio then outspin backslide 270 off.
Buy this video for the Chris Farmer section – it’s worth it. Obviously the most anticipated profile of Too Much Love 2, Farmer comes through with the sick delivery. Straight annihilation left-footed and right-footed, Farmer kinda shows everyone what’s hood. There really isn’t anything to say about the section, so I’ll just tell you what my favorite parts were. First and foremost is the launch to topacid on a wall into some sketch landing. There’s the zero spin switch backslide. All the tricks from his ONE interview. Farmer handles in a way that only Farmer can. A+
Too Much Love 2: The Breakdown is a good video. From the next TML release I expect to see some nice crane/dolly shots, hopefully a really sick camera, and some more sick skating from the Minnesota team. Hopefully a better soundtrack will be included.
Pros: All 5 main profile sections, especially Farmer, which is worth the price of the video alone. Jeph Howard’s section is also completely off the hook and is also A+ material. The DVD also includes all the A Day With Brett & Jeph edits from the internetz, as well as a couple remix sections.
Cons: Music choice. Also, this is a local video, so if you don’t like to see local skaters and only like the big names, you’ll have to deal with some “who?” questions, but not many.
Overall: If you can get past the music, there is some decent skating in Too Much Love 2: The Breakdown. You need to buy this video for the Jeph Howard and Chris Farmer sections, no doubt. Length is pretty much perfect.
...that's what she said.
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