We're happy, we're clappy, we don't think this is...

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2002)

At one point in "Bring It On," cheerleader captain Kirsten Dunst plays a tape made by her love interest and dances like crazy on her bed; directly above said bed is a poster of Nancy Kerrigan, the figure skater best known for being the victim of underhanded methods by her rival Tonya Harding's boyfriend in a bid to keep her out of a competition. Since the plot of the movie also involves unfair tactics, it's clear that it's not as silly as it looks on the surface.
Okay, it is possible to enjoy the movie purely for its obvious pleasures, but Jessica Bendinger's screenplay (though not exactly "Lucas" or "The Chocolate War") does have some points to make about the extent people are willing to go to win, whether legally or illegally; there's also a welcome undertone of liberality (the cheerleader squads include guys, but it's the footballers that receive most of the ridicule - one of the best bits about the movie is when the school football team arrives to much less of a welcome than the pep squad).
The film also takes an interesting attitude towards the Toros (the squad who's won the national championships for the past five years) and the Clovers (the team who are to all intents and purposes the underdogs); though the former Toros team captain (Clare "Glory from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'" Kramer) has been swiping the Clovers' routines for years, "Bring It On" both resists the temptation to stack everything in favour of the Clovers and has the Toros be caught in another (unintentional) duplication of someone else's routine at the tryouts; some more screen time given to the Clovers in general and their captain (Gabrielle Union) in particular would have helped the movie even more, since the relationship that develops between the two captains is underdeveloped on film.
Some of the routines done in the contest climax seem a bit too complex, and you do have to wonder about a few of the plot points, but overall the movie's an above-average teen pic that's performed with enthusiasm (especially by the leads, although Eliza Dushku is the real star of the movie) and has one of the less objectionable song soundtracks of its breed. "Bring It On" can be accused of taking what many understandably don't consider a sport too seriously, but look at how many bad movies have been made out of "real" sports - this is no "Hoosiers" or "The Bad News Bears," but it's also no "Wind" (the unspeakably boring America's Cup movie) or "Split Decisions" (about boxing). Better cheerleading than golf, I say - and as a commentator says during the movie, "Any sport that combines gymnastics, dance and short skirts is okay by me."
Just one query: Why is there a visual effects supervisor credited? The Misses Dunst, Dushku, Union and Lindsay Sloane do that job perfectly well, thank you very much (particularly in the carwash scene and the "Puttin' On The Hits"-type sequence over the credits).
"I'm sexy, I'm cute/I'm popular to boot..."