STEPPIN' [STOMP THE YARD]

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/stomptheyard/
plot : You got served--stomp edition.
thought : Ha ha ha ha ha.

I'm not laughing because the movie was such a rollicking comedy. I think it was actually intended as a drama. A dance drama. A stomp drama. But the thing is, French people don't have sororities or fraternities--and definitely not black ones--so the French were laughing through the whole movie. Didn't hurt its box office, though ; I just think perhaps the French didn't get the significance. In order to prove you are manly and athletic and strong and worthy of female contact...you live in a house with a bunch of boys and start dance lessons ? What ? Don't worry ; I may not be a black Greek, but I think I kind of got the significance. It's about bonding, lifelong relationships and staying in shape. Right ?

Well, this movie killed in America, was number one at the BO for 2 weeks. Why ? I don't really know. It was like YOU GOT SERVED, but with a lot more stomping. And the camera angles weren't as good, so you couldn't even really appreciate the stomping that much. I actually got a little motion sick and came down with a migraine headache after viewing this movie, which is unfortunate, because I kind of wanted to practice some of the moves after seeing it. Haha. Ha.

What I did really appreciate about this movie was the music. Because Chris Brown (singer of 2006's hiphop favorite RUN IT) made a cameo in the film, I expected the entire soundtrack to be laced with his music--and I wouldn't have been upset about it, to be honest, but instead, the director chose to implement a mix of hip hop and rock that helped this movie straddle two genres : the "black" movie and the "dance" movie. The mix of rock and hip hop (hiphop rock ? rock hiphop ? hiprock ? rockhop ?) complimented the leading man's moves, a hitherto unseen Columbus SHORT (oh wait, he was in SAVE THE LAST DANCE 2. Did you know there was a second one ?!?!), probably better than pure hiphop would have. So congrats, Columbus. At least 5% of the total France female population is drooling over you.

Overall rating : 2/5 (blame the migraine)