My thoughts...
Battle of the Year is a film about a team of American all-star "b-boys"(a
style of breakdancing) that are assembled to compete at the world's biggest
b-boying competition in France.
After fifteen years of failed attempts to win
the coveted championship prize, the USA team's sponsor, Dante Graham (Laz
Alonso), looks to break the drought by hiring a new team coach, Jason Blake
(Josh Holloway).
Coach Blake comes in and cleans house by getting
rid of every current member of the team. He uses a local dance showcase as his
source to recruit a completely fresh crew.
Coach Blake has never managed a b-boying squad
before this. He was, at one time, well-known
in the field of basketball. At his peak,
he coached his team to many championship victories. His ability to win is why Dante Graham hired
him for the job. Having no prior knowledge of the art of b-boying, Coach Blake
brings on an assistant, Franklyn (Josh Peck), to help him with the technical
aspects of coaching the squad. They are given a three-month window of time to
prepare and ultimately go up against the world's best b-boyers from each
country.
What seems like a clear and concise set up for
the plot is actually the beginning of an atrocity that becomes Battle
of the Year. If I had to describe the film in one word: corny.
Let's start with the cliché’s of this film.
Coach Blake, a renowned basketball coach, loses his wife and son in a tragic
car accident and, as a result, becomes a low-life alcoholic. Seriously? Yeah, it’s an easy way to kill someone in a
script; but it’s a tacky way to create backstory. Why not use the backstory to add mozre to the
character? And let me just say this: if becoming an
alcoholic is not convincingly justified, then don’t create that persona for the
character. It seemed like, for me, the
writers couldn't think of a better way to describe why this character's life
sucked, so they killed his family and made him an alcoholic.
Other cliche`s that littered this film were
Franklyn's desperate attempts to be recognized for his intense knowledge of
B-boying and, later, his validation that he belonged with the team. My favorite
character: the dancer with a wife and child who sees this competition as a way
to a better life.
I couldn't tell what was worse: Chris Brown's
acting or the film itself. Chris Brown
tries to play this rebellious teen that won't follow Coach Blake's strict
agenda. At times, Brown is shown mocking Coach Blake's words behind his back.
What was supposed to come off as defiant and cocky ended up melodramatic and
dismissible. I thought Brown's whole performance was in need of some humility.
That finally came when he got clocked in the face, for me, the highlight of the
film. Was it Brown’s performance or
character???
Brown's performance didn’t help his supporting
dancer's performances either. When it comes to B-boying, it’s easier to teach a
dancer to act rather than teach an actor to dance. It takes years and years of practice to
master the steps. It’s clear, in this movie, that the dancers were given an
"Acting 101" pamphlet and told to figure it out on their own. Films, such as Miracle, have proven that it’s possible to train athletes into
decent and believable actors. It would
have been nice if they could’ve pulled off the same scenario teaching these
dancers to act.
After five pages of notes, I finally left the
movie. The use of montages felt like
cruise control, their cheesy pep-talks couldn't motivate a 5th grader to eat
his vegetables, their celebrations weren't organic in any way and the use of
horrible cliché one liners seemed to make up the recipe for this film.
The worst part: the disappointing dance
sequences. It would have been nice to watch a dance routine from beginning to
end. Instead, they used sporadic shots
of the routines that felt like they were assembled from a highlight reel. This
would have been a great place to make up for some of the poor storytelling. But, it was just another disappointment.
I wondered how they got the funding for this
movie; but then I remembered the Sony and Puma product placement, and it all made
sense.
What I Didn't Like (to recap):
1. Cliché’s
2. Poor Performances
3. Bad Dance Sequences
What I Liked:
1. The documentary style
footage of the crew traveling to France. Maybe the whole film should have been
shot this way.
2. The images of France.
3. Uh... That's really
it.
Go see it? No. If you want to watch quality b-boying
videos, I suggest you take the electronic device you are reading this on and
YouTube search "B-boying". My guess is you will be more entertained
with what you find doing that than going and seeing this waste of time.
Overall Rating: 0.5/4 Stars
These are my thoughts... Not yours!
-Big Red
