“WAITING FOR LIGHTNING”: Skateboarder Danny Way is the Real Superman

Only a documentary like “WAITING FOR LIGHTNING” makes your hands sweat. I’m not kidding. The sweat comes as you peer with the camera down an enormous ramp constructed next to The Great Wall of China. Ecstatic joy and true inspiration comes later as Danny Way, the nearly inhuman skateboarder, figures out if he can find a way to soar over the Great Wall on his board.

“WAITING FOR LIGHTNING” is a typical skateboard documentary in that most are interesting because the skateboarders themselves are such characters. Danny Way is fascinating, but he’s not very talkative. What makes this film work is the stunt that frames it. You learn that Way is also a talented snowboarder, surfer and motorbiker, then you go back to China to watch the construction of the monster ramp. Learn how his mother partied too much and had no real father to raise him, then back to China. It works.

The documentary a little too complimentary of Way, but that’s not the point. How did this Superman come to life? Let’s watch him work, that’s the point. After you see what happens in China, there’s even a bonus stunt to check out.

“WAITING FOR LIGHTNING” is available HERE.